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: 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: Palestinian authorities reported finding scores of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis this week after it was abandoned by Israeli troops. Bodies were also reported at the Al Shifa site following an Israeli special forces operation.

"We feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly there have been multiple bodies discovered," said Shamdasani, adding Turk said he had been horrified by the reported mass grave discoveries and the hospitals' destruction.

"Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations."

She added that the U.N. human rights office was working on corroborating Palestinian officials' reports that 283 bodies were found at Nasser and 30 at Al Shifa.

Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Emergency Service said on Tuesday that a total of 310 bodies had been found at one mass grave at Nasser so far and that two other graves had been identified, but not yet excavated.

Israel's military and its diplomatic mission in Geneva were not immediately available for comment on the Jewish Passover holiday. Israel says Hamas militants use hospitals as bases and that its forces killed around 200 militants at Al Shifa and avoided harming any civilians.

STORY: The war between Israel and Hamas that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis has had "a significant negative impact" on the human rights situation in the country, the U.S. State Department said in its annual report on Monday.

Israel launched its assault in response to a Hamas attack on October 7, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed.

Israel's commitments to improve aid access in the Gaza Strip have had "limited and sometimes nil" impact, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week as he pushed for urgent, meaningful and measurable progress to avert famine.

Israel, which denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza, has said that aid is moving into Gaza more quickly. But the amount is disputed and the United Nations says it is still much less than the bare minimum to meet humanitarian needs.

STORY: The police crackdowns came after Columbia University canceled in-person classes on Monday in response to protesters setting up tent encampments at its New York City campus last week.

Demonstrators blocked traffic around Yale's campus in New Haven, Connecticut, demanding the school divest from military weapons manufacturers.  Police arrested more than 45 protesters, according to the student-run Yale Daily News.

In New York, officers moved on the NYU crowd shortly after nightfall as hundreds of demonstrators for hours had defied university warnings that they faced consequences if they failed to vacate a plaza where they had gathered.

Protests at Yale, Columbia, NYU 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.

STORY: Pro-Palestinian protests escalated across top U.S. universities Monday.

After nightfall, riot police broke up demonstrations at New York University and carried out mass arrests.

Hundreds of protesters had defied university orders to leave a plaza where they gathered.

They shouted chants urging NYU authorities to divest from efforts linked to Israel’s war effort in Gaza.

At New York's Columbia University, police detained several protesters.

Earlier in the day, the school cancelled in-person classes to deescalate tensions after last week's crackdown on a pro-Palestinian protester tent city, that saw over 100 students arrested.

Ongoing protests in top universities are a response to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began on October 7 with a deadly raid by Hamas Islamist militants into Israel, and Israel's fierce response in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Some Columbia faculty, including professor David Lurie, spoke on Monday against the school suspending students who joined the action.

"We demand that all Barnard College and Columbia University's suspensions and charges be dismissed immediately and expunged from the students' records."

Columbia University President Nemat Shafik had denounced antisemitic language and harassing behavior that she said had occurred on campus recently.

Protesters on Columbia’s lawn have given speeches condemning Israel and Zionism and praising Palestinian armed resistance.

Officers are posted to Manhattan streets, to prevent confrontations between rival groups.

Meanwhile, student media at Yale University in Connecticut say at least 45 students were arrested Monday, linked to pro-Palestinian rallies that blocked traffic.

Similar protests were seen at Emerson College, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Human rights advocates say there's been a rise in bias and hate against Jews, Arabs and Muslims since October 7, and concerns grow as the Jewish holiday of Passover began on Monday.

STORY: Demonstrators tussled with officers and chanted, "We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose. Divest."

A New York police spokesperson said arrests were made after the university asked police to enforce trespassing violations but the total number of arrests and citations would remain unknown until much later. No immediate injuries were reported.

Protests at Yale, Columbia, NYU 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.

STORY: Israel has yet to provide evidence for its accusations that hundreds of staff with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees – or UNRWA – are members of terrorist groups, according to a review of the agency's neutrality released on Monday.

The review also noted that UNRWA has a "more developed approach" to neutrality than other similar U.N. or aid groups, according to Catherine Colonna, a former French foreign minister appointed by the U.N. to lead the review.

"There's always room for improvement and some issues related to neutrality persist. This is why this mission was created."

Colonna was tasked with the review after Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war.

A separate probe by internal U.N. investigators is looking into those allegations.

Sixteen states paused or suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel raised the concerns... 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.

The review said UNRWA shares staff lists annually... and that Israel had not raised any concerns with UNRWA based on those lists since 2011.

Israel then stepped up its accusations in March 2024, saying over 450 UNRWA staff were military operatives in Gaza terrorist groups.

A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry on Monday accused more than 2,000 UNRWA workers of being members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad... and said the review of the agency was insufficient.

Colonna said she wasn't surprised by the reaction.

"I want you to know that we have had good relations with Israel. We were received really well by a wide variety of actors there, including officials, several levels, and in several domains. I just briefed one of those contacts we had there, and I'm not surprised by what they say, because I told him 'Of course you will find it is insufficient, but please take it on board. Whatever it would recommend, if implemented, will bring good.'"

The review said UNRWA neutrality challenges included the size of the operation, with most personnel being recruited locally.

It included some staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks with problematic content and politicized staff unions making threats against management.

A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he has accepted the recommendations and is calling on all countries to actively support UNRWA as it is "a lifeline" for Palestinian refugees in the region.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States had received the report and is reviewing it.