Live blog: Hamas delegation due in Cairo this weekend to discuss Gaza truce

Friday, May 3, 2024

1815 GMT — A delegation from Palestinian resistance group Hamas will visit Cairo on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters, amid expectations that they will deliver a written response to an Israeli proposal on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release.

The Hamas official, who declined to be identified, spoke on Friday after CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital for meetings about the conflict in Gaza, according to an Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo airport.

"There is a complete and continuous coordination between all resistance factions, and there is consensus on the resistance’s demands", the group added in the statement.

Citing a senior Egyptian source, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV also reported that Cairo will receive the Hamas delegation on Saturday to discuss developments in the Gaza truce talks.

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1825 GMT — Children in Rafah face injury, illness, malnutrition, trauma, disabilities: UN

The UN issued a stark warning on the potential consequences of a ground operation in the Gaza city of Rafah, emphasising the grave threat it poses to the lives of some 600,000 children in the region.

The UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq at a news conference said a military operation into Rafah "would bring catastrophe on top of catastrophe" for the children there.

He said "nearly all of the some 600,000 children in Rafah are either injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized, or living with disabilities."

WHO warned that healthcare facilities "will quickly become non-functional if there's a military incursion into Rafah, and then a full-scale military operation into Rafah could lead to a bloodbath," Haq said.

1815 GMT — Falling aid pallet kills, injures several Palestinians in Gaza

Several Palestinians waiting for aid were killed and injured when an aid pallet airdropped on northern Gaza fell without its parachutes opening, Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said.

"The falling of an aid pallet from the air directly onto a group of citizens in the northern part of the Strip led to the deaths and injuries of several people," the agency's spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, said in a statement.

Basal, however, did not specify the number of casualties.

1744 GMT — 10,000 people missing in Gaza since Israeli attacks in territory

Nearly 10,000 people are either missing or trapped under the rubble due to Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 last year, according to local authorities in the Palestinian enclave.

The bodies of 471 Palestinians have been unearthed from six mass graves in hospitals raided by Israeli soldiers, said the media office.

It also said that nearly 11,000 injured are in critical condition and require treatment abroad, while 10,000 cancer patients are at risk of dying due to insufficient health care.

1727 GMT — Pro-Palestinian students in Princeton University begin hunger strike

A group of pro-Palestinian Princeton University students began a hunger strike at the Ivy League school, New Jersey, to pressure administrators to meet their demands.

"This strike is a response to the administration's refusal to engage with our demands for dissociation and divestment from Israel," one of the students participating in the protest said in a video posted on X as five students each read out parts of a joint statement.

"We refuse to be silenced by the university administration's intimidation and repression tactics. We struggle together in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We commit our bodies to their liberation," she added.

The students who made the announcement said they would carry out the protest "until the following demands are met."

1714 GMT — Palestinian PM welcomes recognition of Palestine State by Trinidad and Tobago

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the decision of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to recognize the State of Palestine, stressing that the decision contributes to achieving the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination on their land.

In a statement cited by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Abbas affirmed that Trinidad and Tobago steadfastly "supported the rights of the Palestinian people over the past years and voted in favor of these rights in international forums."

The Palestinian president urged countries worldwide "to stand up to their responsibilities and acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."

1639 GMT — Arrests exceed 2,300 as police clear more US campus encampments

Police ordered pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon a tent encampment at New York University, following weeks of demonstrations and police crackdowns at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2,300 arrests.

About a dozen protesters who refused police orders to leave were arrested and about 30 more left voluntarily, according to NYU spokesperson John Beckman.

The school asked the New York Police Department to intervene “to minimize the likelihood of injury" and disruption, Beckman said.

1626 GMT — Israel trade freeze aimed at forcing Gaza truce — Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Türkiye's move to halt trade with Israel was designed to force the country to a ceasefire over Gaza.

"We have taken some measures to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid to enter" Gaza, Erdogan told a group of businessmen in Istanbul.

"We will oversee the consequences of this step we have taken in coordination and consultation with our business world."

Erdogan also said: "We do not run after hostility or conflict in our region," saying "We know now that we did the right thing."

1607 GMT — A new sea route for Gaza aid is on track: USAID

The United States expects to have on-the-ground arrangements in Gaza ready for humanitarian workers to start delivering food, treatment for starving children and other urgent assistance by early to mid-month when the American military expects to complete a floating pier for the aid, an official with the US Agency for International Development said.

But aid coming through the new U.S.-led maritime route still will serve only a fraction — half a million people — of those who need help in Gaza, the USAID official stressed to The Associated Press.

1536 GMT — Yemen's Houthis announce '4th round' of escalation against Israel's war in Gaza

The Yemeni group Houthi said it started the fourth round against Israel as Tel Aviv announced serious preparations for a military offensive against the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza.

The group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, revealed that the fourth phase of escalation "includes targeting all ships that violate the Israeli navigation ban and heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any area targeted by the Houthi forces."

He continued: "If the Israeli enemy launches a military offensive on Rafah, we will impose comprehensive sanctions on all ships of companies associated with supplies and entry to the ports of occupied Palestine, regardless of their nationality."

1536 GMT — US relocates Gaza pier construction due to bad weather

US forces have moved construction of a temporary pier for Gaza aid deliveries from an offshore area to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to high seas and winds, the military said.

"Yesterday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) temporarily paused offshore assembly of the floating pier in the vicinity of Gaza due to sea state considerations," the military command said in a statement.

"Forecasted high winds and high sea swells caused unsafe conditions for Soldiers working on the surface of the partially constructed pier," it said.

"The partially built pier and military vessels involved in its construction have moved to the Port of Ashdod, where assembly will continue, and will be completed prior to the emplacement of the pier in its intended location when sea states subside."

1412 GMT — Netanyahu comments intended to torpedo truce prospects — Hamas

A senior Hamas official has accused Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu of issuing statements intended to torpedo prospects for a truce in the nearly seven-month war in Gaza.

Hossam Badran told AFP that Hamas was in the process of conducting internal dialogues within its leadership and with allied militant groups before negotiators return to Cairo to continue negotiations towards a truce.

But he warned that Netanyahu's repeated statements insisting he will send troops into the territory's far southern city of Rafah were calculated to "thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement".

"Netanyahu was the obstructionist in all previous rounds of dialogue and previous negotiations, and it is clear that he still is," he said in a telephone interview.

"He is not interested in reaching an agreement, and therefore he says words in the media to thwart these current efforts."

1410 GMT — 'Slightly' more food available in Gaza but famine still looms: WHO

The availability of food in Gaza has very slightly improved, though the risk of famine in the besieged Palestinian territory remains, the World Health Organization said.

"The food situation has a little bit improved. There's a bit more food," Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told a press briefing in Geneva via video-link from Jerusalem.

Compared to a few months ago, "definitely there is more basic food, more wheat, but also a little bit more diversified food on the market", he said.

Peeperkorn stressed that local food production in the densely populated Gaza — such as fruit, vegetables and fish — had been "destroyed" by the war.

The threat of famine had "absolutely not" gone away, he said.

1322 GMT — Yemen's Houthis say will target ships heading to Israeli ports

Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range, military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech.

"We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach," he said.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.

This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israeli war on Gaza could spread and destabilise the Middle East.

1255 GMT — Over 10,000 women killed in Gaza: UN agency

More than 10,000 women were killed in the ongoing Israeli onslaught on besieged Gaza, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said.

In a statement, the agency said: “The war in Gaza continues to be a war on women.”

"Over 10,000 women have been killed and 19,000 injured," it added. The agency also said: "37 children lose their mother every single day."

It stressed that "conditions are appalling," noting that "over 155,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women faced with severely limited access to water and sanitary items."

1214 GMT — Gaza death toll tops 34,600 as Israeli onslaught continues

The Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 34,622 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of Israel's war on Gaza.

The tally includes at least 26 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77,867 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war between Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Israel.

1202 GMT — Britain sanctions Israeli groups for violence in West Bank

Britain announced new sanctions on "extremist Israeli groups" and a number of individuals who it said were behind the violence in the occupied West Bank, according to a statement from the British Foreign Ministry.

1157 GMT — Israel detains 53 Palestinian journalists: NGOs

Israel keeps 53 journalists in its prisons, including 43 who were arrested after the outbreak of the war against Gaza on October 7, 2023, said the Palestinian Prisoner Society and the Addameer association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.

The two institutions said the Israeli forces arrested and detained a total of 70 journalists after the outbreak of the war, including 43 who are currently held in their prisons.

It indicated that "four journalists from Gaza are still under forced disappearance."

In their joint statement, the two Palestinian groups said the arrests highlighted "the systematic policies used by the occupation regime over many decades against Palestinian journalists."

1139 GMT — Türkiye's President Erdogan denounces Western support for Israel

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the West for its ongoing support to Israel.

"All Western countries, led by the US, are supporting Israel and they are sparing no efforts to condemn the poverty-stricken Palestinians to death," he said.

Erdogan also added that the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine is "unacceptable." "Israel has brutally killed 40,000 to 45,000 Palestinians so far. As Muslims, it is unthinkable for us to stand by and watch this happen," he added.

1040 GMT — Rafah operation could result in 'slaughter of civilians': UN

An Israeli army's invasion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk and be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations of the entire enclave, the UN humanitarian office said.

Israel has warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation, having fled months of Israeli bombardments.

"It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, at a Geneva press briefing.

1014 GMT — Harvard to install safety barriers amid pro-Palestine encampment

Harvard University announced plans to install three-foot orange barriers in some locations around the pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard at the center of the campus to ensure safety during freshmen move-out.

The barriers, slated to be in place until May 15, will be positioned between key buildings bordering the encampment, including Massachusetts Hall, Harvard Hall, Matthews Hall, Hollis Hall, and University Hall, according to the university's spokesperson Jason A. Newton.

These measures aim to manage pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow during the ongoing occupation.

Harvard has progressively implemented measures to mitigate the encampment's impact on normal operations, including restricting access to the Yard and relocating events and exams.

Spokesperson Newton stressed pedestrian safety, urging individuals to maintain "a safe distance from vehicles" and keep "egress passageways clear."

0936 GMT — Hamas calls for global action over Israeli targeting journalists

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called for global action to “criminalise” Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists.

In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, Hamas said: “We call for global action to denounce, expose and criminalise the occupation’s violations, and to protect Palestinian journalists and media professionals from the oppression and terrorism of the (Israeli) occupation".

The Palestinian group affirmed that Israel’s “crimes against journalists will not obscure the reality of its terrorism and aggression".

Hamas stressed that Israel "failed to prevent the spread of the Palestinian narrative at the Arab, Islamic and international levels".

At least 141 journalists and media professionals were killed and more than 70 others were injured by Israeli army gunfire in addition to the arrest of dozens during the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza-based Government Media Office said.

0929 GMT — Hamas hails Türkiye's suspension of trade with Israel as ‘victory’

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas praised Türkiye’s decisions to suspend trade with Israel considering it a “victory for the Palestinian people.”

“We highly value the decisions recently taken by the Republic of Türkiye as a victory for our Palestinian people who are being subjected to a horrific genocide,” Hamas said in a statement.

The movement hailed both the cessation of commercial trade with Israel and Türkiye’s decision to join the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Tel Aviv before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

0912 GMT — Israel delays vote on closure of Al Jazeera television

The Israeli Cabinet postponed voting on a decision to ban Al Jazeera television in the country until next Sunday, local media reported.

The Israeli Walla website said that the Cabinet did not vote at its meeting on Thursday evening on a decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel.

“The Cabinet, which met on Thursday evening, was supposed to vote on a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi to ban Al Jazeera's activities in Israel, but at the last minute, the vote was postponed,” the website added.

0905 GMT — Israeli diplomat in Russia says ceasefire in Gaza possible for exchange of hostages

An Israeli diplomat working in Russia said that her country might consider a ceasefire in Gaza only under the condition of a hostage exchange with Hamas.

"A temporary ceasefire is only possible to free the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza," Julia Rachinsky-Spivakov told local media answering a question about a possibility of declaring a pause in hostilities for the time of religious holidays.

0812 GMT — Israel confirms death of hostage held in Gaza

An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, the government and the kibbutz where he had lived said.

Dror Or, 49, is the latest hostage to have been confirmed dead by Israel after begin captured during the Hamas attack.

Or was killed and his body held in Gaza since October 7, the Beeri kibbutz said. It was one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel from Gaza.

Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by fighters during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 35 of them are dead including Or.

0745 GMT — 4 children among 7 killed in Israeli raid in southern Gaza

At least four children among seven Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in an Israeli raid targeting a house in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, medical sources told Anadolu.

The victims were said to be from the Shaheen family, and lived in the Al-Zuhur neighbourhood.

Multiple civilians were also wounded in Israeli airstrikes on a house in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood, Rafah, and on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Wafa news agency.

0550 GMT — Rebuilding Gaza require efforts not seen since World War II — UN

Rebuilding Gaza will cost as much as $40B and require an effort on a scale the world has not seen since World War II amid “unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction”, the United Nations says.

“The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for the reconstruction of… the Gaza Strip surpass $30 billion and could reach up to $40 billion,” said UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari.

“The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented… This is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II,” Dardari told a press conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.

0658 GMT -- New video shows Israeli soldiers in Gaza using Palestinian civilian as human shield

A newly surfaced videotape depicted a civilian man being directed by Israeli soldiers to inspect a school in Gaza City.

The footage by Al Jazeera media network obtained from a downed Israeli drone, captured what appeared to be Israeli soldiers using a detained Palestinian man as a human shield to inspect an abandoned school in Shujaiya neighbourhood.

The footage dates back to December 2023.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities on the video.

0350 GMT — No sign of Hamas attacking US troops

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that he does not see any indication that Hamas is planning an attack on US troops in Gaza.

"I don't discuss intelligence information at the podium," Austin said at a news conference in Hawaii when asked whether he has any credible information that the Palestinian group will target US troops building a pier off Gaza.

"But I don't see any indications currently that there is an active intent to do that," he added.

The US military is nearing the completion of a $320 million floating pier off Gaza’s coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.

Austin said it is combat zone and a number of things could happen.

0517 GMT — Hamas considering latest Gaza truce offer in 'positive spirit'

Hamas says it is considering in a "positive spirit" a Gaza truce deal.

After months of stop-start negotiations, Hamas has sounded an optimistic tone about the latest hostages-for-ceasefire proposal, raising hopes an agreement may soon be reached -- even as medics reported fresh strikes on Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniya said the group will "soon" send a delegation to Egypt to complete ongoing ceasefire discussions with a deal that "realises the demands of our people".

Haniya, the leader of the resistant group's political wing, told Egyptian and Qatari mediators in calls on Thursday that Hamas was studying the latest proposal from Israel with a "positive spirit".

0239 GMT — 3 Palestinians critically injured by Israeli army, illegal settlers in West Bank

At least three Palestinians, including a child, were critically wounded by Israeli army gunfire and an attack by illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that two of the injured, including one in the head from the town of Anabta, arrived at Tulkarem Hospital.

Additionally, a child seriously wounded in the chest arrived at Rafidia Hospital from the town of Qusra, the statement said.

Palestine Television identified the injured person from Anabta as Mohammed Saber Youssef Adas, 49, who works in the presidential guard.

0211 GMT — US destroys 3 Houthi uncrewed aerial systems in Yemen

The US destroyed targets in an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthi group, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"At approximately 2:00 p.m. (Sanaa time) on May 2, 2024, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed three uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in an Iranian-backed Houthi controlled are a of Yemen," CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM said it determined that the systems presented an "imminent threat" to US and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region.

"These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition and merchant vessels," it added.

0046 GMT — Jordan’s King, Pope Francis discuss Gaza, violations by illegal Israeli settlers

Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Pope Francis held discussions on developments in Gaza and illegal Israeli settlers’ violations of holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.

This came during their meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, according to a statement from the Royal Court.

The King ''reaffirmed Jordan’s commitment to undertaking it s religious and historical role in safeguarding Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem under the Hashemite Custodianship,'' the statement said.

0031 GMT — Israeli army says it targeted Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army said that it targeted several Hezbollah fighters in the town of Ayta al-Shaab in southern Lebanon.

''Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah operatives who were spotted by troops entering buildings,'' The Times of Israel daily cited a military statement as saying.

There has been no comment by Hezbollah on the Israeli army's statement.

2253 GMT — Hamas officials to visit Egypt for talks as Israel batters Gaza

Hamas has said that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further ceasefire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the resistance group to end Tel Aviv's brutal war in besieged Gaza.

After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the ceasefire efforts appear to have reached a critical stage, with Egyptian and American mediators reporting signs of compromise in recent days.

But chances for the deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas which many experts say is far-fetched.

2222 GMT — Israel wounds Syrian soldiers in fresh attacks

Syrian regime's Defence Ministry has said Israel wounded eight soldiers in air strikes near Damascus.

"The Israeli enemy launched air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a site near Damascus... injuring eight soldiers," the ministry said in a statement.

2251 GMT — Israel confirms death of captive in Gaza

An Israeli man held in besieged Gaza since October 7 has been confirmed dead, Israel said.

Dror Or, 49, was killed, and his body was held in Gaza since October 7, said the settlement where he had lived.

Israeli officials did not say how they learned of Or's death.

2146 GMT — France's Po Sciences University closes main site over Gaza protests

France's prestigious Sciences Po University has said it would close its main Paris site due to a fresh occupation of buildings by dozens of protesting pro-Palestine students.

In a message sent to staff, its management said the buildings in central Paris "will remain closed tomorrow, Friday May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home".

A committee of pro-Palestinian students earlier announced a "peaceful sit-in" at Sciences Po and said six students were starting a hunger strike "in solidarity with Palestinian victims" in Gaza.

2117 GMT — Quebec seeks dismantlement of pro-Palestine encampments

Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestine camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.

The Canadian protests come as police have been arresting hundreds on US campuses, and the death toll in Gaza has been mounting.

While McGill had requested police intervention, law enforcement had not stepped in to clear the.

Students also set up encampments at Canadian schools, including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa.

"We want the camp to be dismantled. We trust the police, let them do their job," a spokesperson for Legault said.

2025 GMT — Hamas wants Israel held accountable for torturing Palestinians to death

Hamas has called for Israel to be held accountable for the death of two Palestinian prisoners, including Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, due to torture.

"The deaths of our people abducted from Gaza in Israeli jails under torture confirm the atrocious war crimes continuing against our people," the movement said in a statement.

The statement noted: "Israel forcibly took many of our people from schools and hospitals to detention centres…, including doctors, whose crime was their humanitarian duty towards people."

Hamas demanded information about Palestinian prisoners' fate and an international investigation against Israel's leaders.

"The murder of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh in the Israeli prison has raised the death toll of the health sector in the Gaza Strip since October 7 to 496," Palestinian officials said in a statement.

2017 GMT — Palestinian journalists win World Press Freedom prize

UNESCO has awarded its World Press Freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the Israeli carnage in besieged Gaza.

"In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances," said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals.

"As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression."

Audrey Azoulay, director general at the UN Organisation for Education, Science and Culture, said the prize paid "tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances".

1915 GMT — Yemen's Houthis threaten '4th round of escalation'

The Yemeni group Houthi said that it is preparing a "fourth round of escalation" if the Israeli carnage on besieged Gaza continued.

"If Israel and the US persist in aggression against the Palestinian people, there will be a fourth round of escalation against this occupying enemy," group leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a recorded speech reported by the Houthi-run Saba News Agency.

1900 GMT — Israel withholding '500 bodies' of slain Palestinians in jails

The Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve the Bodies of the Martyrs has accused Israel of withholding the bodies of 500 slain Palestinians who died inside Israeli occupation jails, including the bodies of 58 others since the beginning of 2024, WAFA news agency reported.

"Withholding the bodies in the cemeteries and the occupation's refrigerators constitutes an affront to the human dignity of a person, during his life and after his death, and a collective punishment," the campaign said, urging international organisations to demand the release of the bodies to let the families bury them.

For our live updates from Thursday, May 2, click here.