Gaza live: Israel kills at least 30 Palestinians in Rafah air strikes

Columbia University has failed to reach an agreement with students organising the pro-Palestine encampment, the president has said.

In a statement, Minouche Shafik said "constructive dialogue" was held between academic leaders and students since Wednesday but no agreement has been found. 

She added the university "will not divest from Israel," a key demand by the students. 

Several European member states are expected to recognise Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday at the sidelines of a World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh.

Reporting by Reutres 

Palestinian Christians attended mass for Orthodox Palm Sunday in the Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza City, as Israel carries out its bombing and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The Church of St. Porphyrius was hit by Israel on 19 October, killing at least 18 Palestinians who were sheltering there.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said he is "hopeful" about a new proposal for a Gaza truce and hostage release, as a delegation from Hamas is expected in Cairo for talks.

"We are hopeful," he said at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh. "the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides and has tried to extract moderation."

A professor of Holocaust history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Amos Goldberg, has said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In an opinion piece published by The Palestine Project, he argued that the scale of killing and destruction inflicted by Israel on Gaza, constitutes a “deliberate crushing of Palestinian existence in Gaza”.

“It’s so difficult and painful to admit it, but despite all that… we can no longer avoid this conclusion. Jewish history will be henceforth stained,” Goldberg said.

The professor argued that what is happening in Gaza does not need to resemble the Holocaust in order to qualify as a genocide, saying that although each genocide is different, they are all motivated by “an authentic sense of self defence”.

READ MORE: Israel ‘undoubtedly’ committing genocide says Holocaust scholar Amos Goldberg

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US and Saudi Arabia have done intensive work over the past month to reach a normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

"The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion," he said in Riyadh, at the World Economic Forum.

Blinken reiterated the US's opposition to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, saying Israel has yet to present a plan that would protect the civilians sheltering there.

"We have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected," he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is hopeful Hamas will accept an "extraordinarily generous" offer to halt Israel's war on Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.

"Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel," He said in Riyadh at the World Economic Forum.

"They have to decide — and they have to decide quickly," he added. "I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision."

The roadmap to a diplomatic solution in Gaza has been stalled for months. The little trust that was built between Israel and Hamas during the short-lived pause in fighting last November has since been eroded by parties on both sides, for whom this conflict is about political survival. 

Meanwhile, mediator Qatar has come under increased pressure from narrow political interest groups in Washington, triggering a debate in the Gulf state about the utility of its relationship with Hamas moving forward. 

Some voices in Doha feel that the burden of hosting the political leadership of the militant group, an arrangement the US has long endorsed, is starting to outweigh the benefits of being the go-to diplomatic broker in Palestine. Especially within the polarised Washington bubble, where pro-Israel lobbying networks have gone into overdrive since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October, pressure on Qatar from US lawmakers in campaign mode is mounting.

READ MORE: Why Qatar won't let Hamas go just yet, opinion by Andreas Krieg

Gaza's health ministry said that 34 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 34,488 since 7 October.

An additional 77,643 have been wounded since the start of the war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country has seen "measurable progress" in the humanitarian situation in Gaza over the past few weeks, but urged Israel to do more.

Speaking at the opening  of a US-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Blinken added that the most effective way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was through a ceasefire.

The number of aid trucks entering Gaza remains below what the UN says is the minimum required to address the "immimnent" famine in the enclave.

Blinken also spoke of Iran's 13 April attack on Israel, saying it shows the need for greater defence integration.

"This attack highlights the acute and growing threat from Iran but also the imperative that we work together on integrated defence," he said.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu told CNN on Sunday that the Palestinian group Hamas should be considered a terrorist group due to its attacks on Israel on 7 October.

The comments by the prominent Turkish opposition politician represent a sharp contrast with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's position, which has tolerated the presence of Hamas officials on Turkish territory and likened their fight to Turkey's own historic struggle for independence.

"Of course, Hamas carried out an attack in Israel that we deeply regret," Imamoglu said, adding: "In our eyes, any organisation that carries out these terrorist acts and kills people en masse is a terrorist organisation."

Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), won a landslide victory in local elections on 31 March, leading to his re-election as mayor of Turkey's biggest city. He defeated his ruling AK Party rival, former minister of urbanisation, Murat Kurum, by nearly 12 points.

READ MORE: Istanbul mayor Imamoglu calls Hamas a terror group

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said that talks for a ceasefire in Gaza were progressing as he joined US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The two officials are trying to push for an easing of the war between Israel and Hamas.

"Things are moving forward but you always have to be careful in these discussions and negotiations," Sejourne told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting. "The situation in Gaza is catastrophic and we need a ceasefire."

"We will discuss the hostages, humanitarian situation and the ceasefire. Things are progressing, but we must always remain prudent in these discussions and negotiations."

Hamas's Qassam Brigades said they fired a barrage of rockets at the Gibor military camp in northern Israel from Lebanon.

The Israeli army said around 20 rockets were launched, most of which were intercepted while others fell in open areas.

Israeli media reports that a barrage of over 30 rockets has been fired on Upper Galilee, northern Israel on Monday morning.