Police have swept through campuses across the US over the last two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza.
This came after Netanyahu vowed to invade Rafah "with or without" a hostage deal, ignoring US warnings over such an operation. The US and other aid groups have opposed Israel's plans to attack Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have taken shelter from the war.
Pro-Palestinian protesters were seen smashing windows at Columbia University early on Tuesday morning as the school began to suspend students for refusing to dismantle tents set up on the New York campus.
The statement from the Israeli Prime Minister came a day after he spoke to US President Joe Biden. During the conversation, both leaders discussed IDF's potential attack on Rafah crossing-- a border region which has been a centre of conflict between the two leaders.
A statement issued by the White House did not give more details of that part of the conversation. Washington has said that it could not support a Rafah operation without an appropriate and credible humanitarian plan.
White House Correspondents' Dinner, an evening normally devoted to presidents, journalists and comedians taking outrageous pokes at political scandals, this year, was marred by the coming presidential election and the troubles in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Protesters and police clashed on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Wednesday. Demonstrators chanted, "Free, free Palestine" as they marched and carried tents on campus.
The head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva said he accepted responsibility for the intelligence failures that allowed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
Although Biden did not announce sanctions publically, several top American officials have been increasingly critical of Israel's military offensive in the besieged terrority.
Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in responding to a volley of attacks from Iran.
The suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria and Tehran's subsequent retaliation have sparked global alarm over a possible all-out war in the Middle East. Israel has warned that Iran's missile and drone attacks will be met with a response and Tehran has threatened a harsher response.
While Israeli leaders have hinted at retaliation, the government is under heavy international pressure not to further escalate the conflict — especially after the Iranian strike caused such little damage.
Israelis awaited word on how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would respond to Iran's first-ever direct attack as international pressure for restraint grew amid fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
Iran warned Israel and the United States of a much larger response if there is any retaliation for its mass drone and missile attack on Israeli territory overnight, as Israel said: "the campaign is not over yet".
The Iron Dome is part of a larger multi-layer air-defence system that includes the Arrow, which intercepts long-range ballistic missiles, and also David’s Sling, which intercepts medium-range missiles such as those believed to be possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Read the full story to know more.
According to PM Netanyahu, the rejection of the proposals showed that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, did not want a deal and was trying to exploit tensions with Iran and bring about a regional escalation of the conflict.
Amid escalating tensions sparked by an Iranian threat to strike Israel, Russia, Germany, and Britain have called for restraint in the Middle East. This comes after an airstrike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus claimed the lives of a top Iranian general and six other military officers.
These workers will be brought to Israel via an "air shuttle" to help the country's labour shortage amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. An acute shortage of workers has talled several projects, causing concerns about the increasing cost of living.
Biden described Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza as "a mistake" in one of his sharpest critiques of how the Israeli government is prosecuting the conflict against Hamas.
Israel has threatened a ground offensive in nearby Rafah, the last refuge for Gaza's beleaguered population, for weeks. The prospect of an operation in Rafah has sparked global alarm, including from Israel's top ally - the US - which has urged the military to protect civilians.
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