In the West Bank, Israeli forces kill a Palestinian man, assaulting him before throwing him off a roof in Dahariya. Israeli forces also storm a secondary school in Hebron, injuring students and staff with tear gas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces assault a Palestinian man at the Huwwara checkpoint. Israeli forces also seize 2 bulldozers in Silwad. Meanwhile, Israeli forces arrest 10 Palestinians during raids in and around Rantis, Shuqba, Anabta, Bethlehem, and Hebron. Palestinian students at Birzeit University force the German representative to the PA Oliver Owcza to leave an event at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit over Germany’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. In East Jerusalem, a Turkish national is shot and killed after he allegedly stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the Old City. During the incident, Israeli forces assault 2 Palestinian bystanders. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Rafah, Khan Yunis, Gaza City, Nuseirat refugee camp, al-Bureij, Beit Lahiya, Maghazi, and Jabalia refugee camp, killing at least 47 people. (AJ, HA, HA, HA, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/30; UNOCHA 5/1)
More than 34,535 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 14,520 children and 10,000 women, and around 77,704 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 480 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 117 children. More than 4,974 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 260 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,586 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 111 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini calls for an independent investigation into the killing and detention of UNRWA staffers, saying 182 have been killed and 160 UNRWA facilities have been attacked, resulting in the deaths 400 people sheltering in them, during Israel’s war on Gaza. (AJ, HA, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA 4/30; UNOCHA 5/1; UNRWA 5/3)
The Gaza Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs issues a statement, saying Israel has mutilated the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians, including postmortem decapitations and dismemberment. (AJ 4/30)
PA ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour tells AP that the UN General Assembly will vote on 5/10 to have the Security Council reconsider Palestine’s bid for full UN membership. The General Assembly resolution would also give Palestine “the rights and privileges” to ensure its full and effective participation in the work of the assembly and other UN organs. (REU 4/30)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian says Fatah and Hamas representatives have met in Beijing and held discussions on reconciliation, making “positive progress.” (AJ, HA, NYT, REU 4/30)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will invade Rafah regardless of a ceasefire deal and that if the ICC issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders it would be “an act of anti-Semitic hatred.” French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne meets with Netanyahu, telling him that invading Rafah “is a bad idea.” A senior Qatari official says Netanyahu is trying to prevent a ceasefire deal with his comments on Rafah. (AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AP, HA, HA, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU 4/30; NYT 5/1)
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken visits Jordan, touring an aid warehouse and meeting with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi before traveling to Israel. (AJ, AP, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA 4/30)
Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discusses ceasefire negotiations with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a phone call. (AJ 4/30)
The ICJ rules 15-1 against issuing emergency measures to end German arms sales to Israel in the Nicaraguan case against Germany for enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The judges also rule to continue the case, despite voting against the emergency measures. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA 4/30)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres calls for an independent investigation into the mass graves found in Gaza. Guterres also calls on Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and warns against an Israeli invasion of Rafah. (AJ, AJ, AP, UNOCHA, WAFA 4/30)
UNRWA high commissioner Philippe Lazzarini says that $267 million in contributions are still being withheld from the UNRWA despite many countries resuming funding. Israeli interior minister Moshe Arbel denies a request by Lazzarini to enter Gaza via Israel. (AJ, HA, REU 4/30)
Columbia University students occupy a school building after the school’s administration threatens harsher measures against the students protesting in the encampments. New York City riot police later raid the building, arresting around 50 people. New York City mayor Eric Adams says around 300 protesters are arrested in New York. Pro-Israel protesters attack pro-Palestine protesters at the University of California in Los Angeles. Police at California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt arrest 32 people, including 13 students and a faculty member. Police fire tear gas at protesters at the University of Southern Florida in Tampa, arresting at least 10 people. Police arrest 14 students at Tulane University in New Orleans. Students at Brown University in Providence agree to dismantle their encampment after reaching a deal which will see the university vote on divesting from companies connected to the Israeli military. The UN high commissioner for human rights’ spokesperson Marta Hurtado expresses concern about disproportionate U.S. police action against pro-Palestine protesters on U.S. campuses. U.S. president Joe Biden says in a statement that he condemns the use of the Arabic word “intifada” at student protests, calling it hate speech. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, WAFA 4/30; AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, WAFA 5/1; AJ 5/2)
59 journalism professors in the U.S. call on the New York Times to address criticism of the integrity of its story “Screams Without Words,” which charged Hamas militants with systematic rape of Israeli women on 10/7/2023. Many of the accounts in the story have been proven false and the inexperienced Israeli journalists working on the story have admitted to confirmation bias. (AJ 4/30)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tells Time Magazine that he doubts the feasibility of a 2-state solution. (TIME 4/30; AJ, HA 5/2)