STORY: The protesters who surrendered peacefully to be arrested, joined students at several universities, including Columbia, Yale and New York University - that have taken part to protest Israel's military operations in Gaza in response to the deadly October 7th attacks by Hamas.

On many campuses, protesters have set up unauthorized tent encampments to press their demands.

Since Friday, hundreds of students and others have been arrested at Columbia, Yale and NYU, while critics, including prominent Republican members of the U.S. Congress, have stepped up accusations of antisemitism and harassment by at least some protesters.

STORY: They called on all the countries involved in the negotiation between Israel and Hamas "seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region."

The short video, which is undated, showed the 23-year-old missing his lower arm, which was blown off during the Hamas-led attack in October, but otherwise apparently healthy.

His mother has been campaigning actively for the release of her son, who was abducted at the Nova music festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen early on Oct. 7 and is one of 133 Israeli hostages still in captivity after more than 100 were released last year.

STORY: The Swedish city of Malmo is gearing up to host the Eurovision Song Contest against a backdrop of heightened security and planned protests over Israel’s participation.

Eurovision is the biggest contest of its kind in the world.

Two hundred million people are expected to tune in.

And about 100,000 are expected to travel to Sweden’s third-largest city.

Earlier this month, protesters denounced Israel’s participation in a protest outside Malmo’s City Hall.

And multiple large pro-Palestinian protests are planned outside the contest venue.

Protest signs are already up around the city.

Malmo resident Orwa Kadoura is a Palestinian who is helping to organize protests.

The feelings around Israel’s participation, he says, are difficult and multi-layered, including anger, sadness and a feeling of injustice.

The European Broadcasting Union — or EBU — organizes the contest.

It’s resisted calls for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza and says the event is non-political.

Still, the EBU banned Russia in 2022 after several European public broadcasters called for the country to be expelled over its invasion of Ukraine.

This time around, Israeli contestant Eden Golan will be under the spotlight, along with her song, “Hurricane.”

Israel got the green light to compete after agreeing to modify the lyrics of its original song, “October Rain,” which the EBU said made reference to the October 7 Hamas onslaught in Israel.

Organizers face the risk of protests escalating into violence, heightened terror threats in the country, as well as increased tensions with Russia after Sweden's NATO membership.

Police say security will be tighter compared to the last time Sweden hosted the event in 2016.

The contest’s executive producer Ebba Adielsson says her focus is on the visitors coming to Sweden from over 80 countries.

“This is my focus and I really hope that people will feel this and be united by music."

Those visitors will have to pass through airport-like security checks when entering venues.

The contest takes place from May 7 to 11.

STORY: Germany plans to resume funding of the UN Palestinian agency, or UNRWA.

That's according to a statement from the country’s foreign and development ministries on Wednesday (April 24).

Earlier this year, Israel accused hundreds of UNRWA staff of being military operatives in so-called terrorist groups in Gaza.

A number of countries including the U.S. and Britain then paused payments to UNRWA, a severe blow to the agency that provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

But a new report released on Monday concluded that Israel had not provided enough evidence to back up its claims.

The review was led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, looking into UNRWA’s ability to ensure neutrality.

"Overall, the findings of the review are that UNRWA has in place a very significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principle of neutrality.”

A separate UN probe is also investigating Israel’s accusation that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.

Norway, which is a major donor to UNRWA, on Tuesday called on donors to resume funding, arguing that the donation cuts have put the population of Gaza at risk.

Ten countries have resumed their donation following the review.

The U.S., UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Lithuania have not yet done so.

A U.N. spokesperson on Monday said UNRWA currently only had enough funding to pay for operations until June.

STORY: "We are getting closer by the day to a famine situation," said Gian Carlo Cirri, Geneva director of the WFP.

A U.N.-backed report published in March said that famine was imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July. On Tuesday, a U.S. official said the risk of famine in Gaza, especially in the north, was very high.

Cirri was speaking at the launch of a report by the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian and development actors including United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the European Union and the United States.

In its report, the network described the 2024 outlook for the Middle East and Africa as extremely concerning due to the Gaza war and restricted humanitarian access, as well as the risk of the conflict spreading elsewhere in the region.

The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza's ruling Islamist militant group Hamas.

Israel has denied hindering supplies of humanitarian aid and blames aid agencies for inefficiencies in distribution.

STORY: Pro-Palestinian student protests expanded to more U.S. college campuses on Tuesday, after mass arrests at demonstrations among a handful of mostly East Coast schools in recent days.

They're all responding to Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after a deadly October raid by Hamas Islamist militants.

At University of California Berkeley – a school with a strong legacy of student activism– students erected a tent camp on Tuesday in solidarity with protesters at other schools.

The demonstrations coincide with the week-long Jewish feast of Passover.

“I’m here especially on the first day of Passover because I believe that in this moment where we celebrate the liberation of our people it is important to fight for the liberation of others.”

The campus of Cal Poly Humboldt, a public university also in California, was shut down after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a campus building.

And at the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, police cleared an encampment after the school asked them to take action, citing violations of university policy and trespassing law.

The new protests follow the arrest of more than 100 students at Columbia last week, and around 120 protesters on New York University's campus late Monday.

NYPD said university authorities reached out for help, and protesters failed to clear by the deadline given by the university.

New York Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday defended the actions of police, and also said that outside agitators had infiltrated the demonstrations.

“We have identified individuals who don't attend the schools, who are on the campuses.”

“They latch on to any protests to see our police officers having bottles thrown at them.”

Adams joined in with Columbia administrators, state officials, some members of Congress and the White House in citing incidents of extreme rhetoric by Pro-Palestinian protesters, and allegations that Jewish students have been subjected to antisemitism and harassment.

While student organizers from Columbia have acknowledged several such incidents, they maintain that quote "inflammatory individuals" do not represent their anti-war movement.

The White House has said it is closely monitoring the situation on college campuses.

STORY: The school canceled in-person classes on Monday (April 22) in response to protesters setting up tent encampments at its New York City campus last week.

Protests at Yale University, Columbia, New York University and other university campuses across the nation began in response to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following the deadly cross-border raid by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 and Israel's fierce response in the Gaza enclave controlled by Hamas.

In an email to Columbia staff and students on Monday, Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik said the university was canceling in-person classes and moving to online teaching to "deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps."

Last week, Shafik called in New York police to clear a tent encampment protesters had set up on Columbia's main lawn to demand the school divest from Israel-related investments, an unusual move condemned by some faculty.

The school said the encampment violated rules. Police arrested more than 100 students from Columbia on Thursday (April 18) on charges of trespassing. Columbia and the affiliated Barnard College have suspended dozens of students involved in the protests.