By October 21st, 2023, some 6,000 people in the Gaza Strip and Israel had been killed in the expanding Israel- Hamas War. Here on the University of Illinois Campus and around the world, tensions between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli communities were rising. As part of their coverage of the conflict last fall, Illinois journalism students spoke
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel’s most wanted man. Israeli
When 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadee Alfayoumi was stabbed to death in October of 2023 in suburban Plainfield Township in an alleged hate crime, it was as though the Muslim community itself had been stabbed. That’s how Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described the effect of
A year ago, on October 13, Israel began a ground operation in Gaza in response to the devastating attack by Hamas on October 7. The conflict has claimed more than 43,000 lives with some one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza. Now, the regional war the United States has spent a year trying to
CHAMPAIGN– Vigils and gatherings were held around the country and in Champaign Monday to mark one year since an attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel. Hillel and the Chabad Center came together on the University of Illinois Quad to mourn those lost and those still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. An
One year ago today, Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 men, women and children and kidnapped more than 200 others after entering Israel from the Gaza Strip. In response to the attack, Israel launched a military offensive that has killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza. More than half of those killed were women and
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, without disrupting a nearby ceremony. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli strike in the country’s south killed at least 10 firefighters. Hamas also said it attacked Israeli forces in different parts of Gaza.
Yafa Issa is the first University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign student to be charged for participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus at the end of the 2024 school year.
Just over 2,600 people have been arrested on the campuses of 50 colleges and universities since April 18, according to figures based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies. Not all schools are taking such an approach.
The groups largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities.
Israeli officials are under growing pressure at home but say the fighting is likely to continue for several more months. Hamas says it will not free more hostages until Israel ends its offensive.
he cease-fire agreement between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers involves the exchange, over four days, of 150 Palestinian minors and women in Israeli prison for 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Although the protest was student-led, older Palestinians and families from the Champaign-Urbana area also marched alongside the university students.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision on aid was approved after a request from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden.