Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest updates from Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza:
Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the US Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year. The resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats.
Brown University reached a deal on Wednesday with President Donald Trump’s administration to restore funding for the university’s federally sponsored medical and health sciences research and to resolve some compliance reviews, the university and the government said on Wednesday. The university agreed to take actions “to support a thriving Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies,” according to the terms of the deal.
US President Donald Trump believes that recognising Palestinian statehood would be rewarding Hamas and he does not intend to do that, a White House official said on Wednesday.
A trade deal between Canada and the United States will likely be hindered by Canada’s Wednesday promise to recognise a Palestinian state, President Trump said on social media.
The Israeli police are refusing to release the body of activist Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot by a settler in the village of Umm al-Khair in the southern West Bank on Monday, even though the autopsy was completed on Wednesday, Haaretz reported.
The Israeli government this week distributed 29 all-terrain vehicles along with security and logistical equipment to illegal settler farming outposts in the occupied West Bank, saying the move was intended to “strengthen the resilience” of the outposts and “deepen” Israeli control over the territory, The Times of Israel reported.
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire in a settler attack on the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing two medical sources.
A Palestinian man, his wife, and two children were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent sheltering them in central Deir al-Balah, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
