Israel rejected a Hamas proposal for a ceasefire, which included the return of Israeli captives held in Gaza, and is preparing instead to expand its ground invasion to Rafah, where 1.9 million Palestinians are seeking refuge.
Potential ceasefire deal still at discussion stage, as U.S. President Joe Biden calls Hamas counter-proposal “a little over the top.” Israel continues to bomb Rafah and Khan Younis in Gaza, as Israeli forces raid the West Bank, killing one teenager.
Following months of large-scale protests, extensive outreach to alders, and organized efforts by Pro-Palestinian advocates, on January 31, Chicago became the largest U.S. City to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Chicago alderpeople have tried to postpone a city council vote on a Gaza ceasefire by citing proximity to International Holocaust Remembrance Day and even the upcoming Democratic National Convention. A vote is finally scheduled for this week.
At least five countries have pulled their funding from the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees over Israeli claims that staff members participated in the October 7 attack. Israel keeps killing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents almost 2 million workers, has become the largest U.S. union to back a ceasefire in Gaza.
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa was killed after being hit by an Israeli airstrike. He was left to bleed out for hours after being targeted, with medics unable to reach him due to Israeli fire.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders refuses to even meet with constituents demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and many have given up on him. “How many thousands of more lives lost will it require for you to take a stand?”
A window of respite opens on Friday with a hostage swap due to take place in the afternoon, after Israeli forces hit Indonesian hospital and an UNRWA school. Israeli forces kill a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, and settlers continue to harass Palestinian communities.
“Humanitarian pauses” are being used as a pretext for ethnic cleansing, while previous Gaza ceasefires have allowed Israel to intensify the blockade to an unbearable degree, but just short of violating a ceasefire.