Blinken arrives in Israel ahead of meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu (2024)

Columbia University said in a statement Wednesday night that it was "left with no choice" but to call in police after Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and blockaded, and after public safety personnel were forced out of the building by the anti-Israel protesters and threatened.

"We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation," the statement said.

The statement said that the administration, including the board of trustees, met throughout the night and into the early morning, consulting with security experts and law enforcement to determine the best plan to protect the Columbia community.

Dozens of protesters who had occupied Hamilton Hall have been arrested and put on NYPD buses.

"We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter, and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response," the statement said.

The group that broke into and occupied Hamilton Hall, the statement said, is apparently being led by individuals who are not affiliated with the university.

"The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing," the statement said. "We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law."

New York police are storming the Columbia University campus, where dozens of anti-Israel protesters have barricaded themselves inside a key building.

According to eyewitness reports and television images, NYPD forces, equipped with riot gear, were lining up on the main streets that border the Morningside Heights campus and blocking traffic.

Police have begun arresting student protesters who are being escorted, with their hands tied behind them, to buses. Students on campus have been ordered not to leave their dormitories. Hundreds of police are on the campus.

The student protesters took over Hamilton Hall, a historic campus building, at 1 a.m., smashing windows and barricading themselves inside. Columbia announced during the day that it planned to expel the students.

NYPD are not allowed to enter the campus without an explicit summons from the Columbia University administration. It would seem, then, that the administration has given up any hope of convincing the protesters to leave the building on their own.

The campus was in almost complete lockdown today, with access granted only to students who live in dormitories located inside and employees who provide essential services. A pool of reporters was allowed in briefly during the day.

This would be the second time in less than two weeks that the university has brought in police to arrest student protesters. The last time was when the students refused to take down an encampment they had built across from Hamilton Hall.

A statement issued by the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors said that faculty had since then offered their help in resolving the crisis but had been "rebuffed or ignored."

"NYPD presence in our neighborhood endangers our entire community," the statement said. "Armed police entering our campus places students and everyone else on campus at risk. That is why university statutes require consultation with faculty — statutes which appear to have been ignored since April 17, and again tonight. We hold university leadership responsible for the disastrous lapses of judgment that have gotten us to this point. The university [resident, her senior staff, and the board of trustees will bear responsibility for any injuries that may occur during any police action on our campus."

United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that despite global calls for Israel to spare Rafah in the Gaza Strip, "a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon."

He also said in a statement that Israeli improvements to aid access in Gaza "cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah."

Israel will reduce its military presence in the West Bank as of next month, following a security assessment conducted after Ramadan and the Passover holiday, and an agreement between the security establishment and the West Bank settlements.

The IDF will maintain its ability to quickly deploy and arm troops in case of a security incident and will continue to monitor the need to boost troop presence.

After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, thousands of area defense troops were called up for reserve duty, in part within the framework of the IDF's preparations for extreme scenarios.

According to the military, area defense in the Central Command has improved significantly since the outbreak of the war and there are currently more than 100,000 reservists stationed alongside the regular forces. According to the plan, a number of area defense soldiers will be permanently stationed in each settlement, in addition to the construction of more fortified positions, adding more patrols, deploying more obstacles and lookout points, increasing the number of gun permits and bolstering the settlements' security squads.

WASHINGTON – President Biden signed an order declaring May 2024 as Jewish American Heritage Month, calling on Americans "to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans."

"It is our shared moral responsibility to forcefully stand up to antisemitism and to make clear that hate can have no safe harbor in America," the proclamation reads. "The venom and violence of antisemitism will not be the story of our time."

The president also appointed Holocaust expert Deborah Lipstadt as the first Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

Here are the latest updates on day 207 of the war:

■ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel. Blinken is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog, and also plans to visit the Kerem Shalom crossing.

■ Sources in Hamas said the organization demands guarantees that Israel will not resume fighting in Gaza in the coming months as a condition to finalize a deal to release hostages.

■ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, during his visit in Amman, Jordan, to discuss efforts of reaching a cease-fire deal to release the hostages, securing a lasting peace in the region and increasing aid to Gaza.

■ Blinken also met with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag in Amman to discuss aid efforts for Gaza.

■ A sea pier being built to deliver aid to Gaza will be ready in a week, according to Blinken.

■ The top UN court rejected a request by Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel and renew funding to UNRWA.

■ Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied a request by UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini to enter the Gaza Strip via Israel. Close associates of the minister said the decision was due to the evidence of UNRWA employees' involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

■ Some 200 people are protesting for the release of the hostages on Begin Street, near the army's headquarters in Tel Aviv.

■ The Hostage and Missing Families Forum contacted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding to meet on Wednesday to receive an update on the negotiations for a deal with Hamas.

■ The Israel Defense Forces' preliminary investigation into the deaths of two reservists in Gaza on Sunday found that they were killed by an IDF tank shell that was fired at the building in which they were staying, due to a mistaken identification.

■ After anti-Israel protesters barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, Columbia University announced that students occupying the main campus building will be expelled.

■ Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have expressed the will to seek reconciliation through dialogue at unity talks in Beijing, China's foreign ministry said.