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Ruby and Hagit Chen are still waiting to bury their son. Itay was killed in Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, Chen doesn’t have a grave to visit because his son’s remains are held captive in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its memorial day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Video shot by Moshe Edri and Ami Bentov)

STORY: :: Thousands protest against Israel's participation in the Eurovision song contest :: May 11, 2024 :: Malmo, Sweden The 68th version of the contest, normally a festival of catchy songs and tongue-in-cheek kitsch, is taking place amid protests in host city Malmo over the participation of Israel, due to its war in Gaza. Eurovision organizers have resisted calls for Israel to be excluded, but demanded that Israel tweak the lyrics of its original entry to remove what they said were references to Palestinian group Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked its war on Gaza. Protesters have complained of double standards as the European Broadcasting Union banned Russia from Eurovision in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

STORY: : Palestinians hold funerals for loved ones killed during overnight Israeli airstrikes in Gaza :: Deir Al-Balah, Gaza :: May 11, 2024 :: Khitam al-Khatib "Here they are, in pieces, here is my sister in-law, without a head, my aunt is without a head. What is this injustice? Until when will this be going on? We are exhausted, by God we are exhausted. I have been in tents for the past seven months, I have never lived in a tent before. We were not cut out for this, the women of Palestine were not cut out for this, we were always honored. It's not fair that this is happening to them, it's not fair. By God we are exhausted from this." According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, 24 Palestinians were killed overnight after Israeli jets targeted several areas in central Gaza, while at least seven were killed after the airforce targeted dozens of homes in Jabalia. Some people are still missing under the rubble. At least 34,943 Palestinians have been killed and 78,572 injured in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Friday. The conflict was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on Southern Israel where 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage in the attack, according to Israeli tallies.

Historian and author of the book "Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest," Dean Vuletic believes the Eurovision Song Contest, where the final is to take place on Saturday in the Swedish city of Malmo, brings together Europe through music although the current Israel-Hamas war could bring division. (May 11)

STORY: The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a bid by Palestine to become a full U.N. member Friday, recommending the U.N. Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." The vote serves as a global survey of support, after the United States vetoed the idea in the U.N. Security Council a month prior. The Palestinian push for full U.N. membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N. considers to be illegal. "We want peace, we want freedom." Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour spoke to the assembly before the vote: “A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state." "It is an investment in peace, and thus empowers the forces of peace." Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan, who spoke after Mansour, accused the assembly of shredding the U.N. Charter: “You are shredding the U.N. Charter with your own hands. Yes, yes. That's what you're doing. Shredding the U.N. Charter. Shame on you.” The vote by the General Assembly Friday does not give the Palestinians full U.N. membership, but simply recognizes them as qualified to join. An application to become a full U.N. member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a U.S. veto.

On Friday, students at the University of Minnesota spoke to the Board of Regents, demanding it divest from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel has indicated it plans to push forward with war operations in Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we will do what we have to do to protect our country…”

STORY: :: Israeli prime minister Netanyahu says he hopes he can "overcome disagreements" with Biden :: Jerusalem, Israel :: May 9, 2024 :: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister “I've known (U.S. President) Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more. You know, we often had our agreements, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country, and that means protect our future.” :: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister “You know, we've lost hundreds of soldiers who fought bravely and fell in Gaza. And, you know, it requires continuous effort of assistance and treatment because their souls are scarred. But at the same time, we also think about the reconstruction of Gaza once we eliminate these terrorists, these terrorist thugs who are controlling it." :: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister "If Israel has to stand alone, we'll stand alone. But we also know we are not alone because we have so many decent people everywhere who do support us, who do understand the truth, and we will defeat our enemies and we will secure our future." In a CNN interview on Wednesday (May 8), Biden warned Israel that the U.S. would stop supplying weapons if Israeli forces go ahead with a major invasion of Rafah. Israel has destroyed 20 of Hamas’ 24 “terrorist” battalions, Netanyahu said in an interview on the “Dr. Phil Primetime” show on Thursday (May 9). He added that the remaining four are in Rafah, and that is why Israeli forces have to enter the area.

STORY: :: Netanyahu says Israelis will "fight with our fingernails" if they have to after Biden's threat to halt arms shipments ::Location: Jerusalem ::May 9, 2024 ::Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister "We are on the eve of Independence Day. In the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were the few against the many. We did not have weapons. There was an arms embargo on Israel, but with great strength of spirit, heroism and unity among us – we were victorious. Today we are much stronger. We are determined and we are united in order to defeat our enemies and those who want to destroy us. If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary – we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with God's help, together we will win." The comments followed U.S. President Joe Biden's warning that the United States would halt weapons supplies if Israel moved into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Netanyahu has defied mounting international pressure to agree to a ceasefire but has not so far ordered troops to enter the city, where Israel says four battalions of Hamas fighters are based.

President Joe Biden says he won't supply offensive weapons Israel can use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there.

STORY: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israelis were ready to "fight with the fingernails." It was a thinly-veiled rebuff to U.S. President Joe Biden, after Washington said it had paused a weapons shipment due to Israel's plans for a military operation in Gaza. Biden warned Israel he will not support an invasion of the city of Rafah without adequate safeguards for the civilian population, as an estimated half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have sought shelter there. The paused shipment includes several thousand powerful aerial bombs, that the White House says are not suitable for warfare in densely-populated areas. TOM COTTON: "It's now plain what we suspected all along. Joe Biden's defacto position is for a Hamas victory over Israel." That pause provoked fiery criticism from Republicans in Congress, who characterized the holdup of a single weapons shipment as tantamount to the a betrayal of an ally. Here's Oklahoma Senator Tom Cotton: "Joe Biden is threatening to withhold weapons for fighting in Rafah, therefore, Joe Biden objectively favors a Hamas victory over Israel." The Pentagon dismissed the criticism from Senate Republicans, listing the massive amounts of military aid that has flowed from the U.S. to Israel, including missile defense capabilities. PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON PAT RYDER: "As you know, we provided billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel..." Last month, American forces assisted in shooting down hundreds of Iranian drones and rockets aimed at Israel. Meanwhile, billions of dollars worth of U.S. weaponry remains in the pipeline for Israel, despite the delay. Republican Senator Jim Risch told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. was planning to send tank rounds, mortars, armored tactical vehicles, and more. In the wake the Oct. 7 attack where Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people, by Israeli tallies, and seized more than 250 hostages, Biden pledged his "ironclad" support for Israel. But the Israeli retaliation that has killed 35,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, forced Biden into a difficult spot between supporting and ally and trying to limit the loss of life. Biden had been pressed by international allies and many of his fellow Democrats at home to condition billions in U.S. aid to Israel due to the massive death toll from its Gaza assault. And a U.S. official told Reuters those pressure came to a head on an April 4 phone call between the leaders after Israeli forces killed seven World Central Kitchen volunteers. Biden gave Netanyahu an ultimatum: protect citizens and aid workers, or else U.S. policy would change. And last week, the U.S. acted on it, pausing the delivery of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs. In an interview with CNN Wednesday night, Biden said: "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers."

STORY: This is the last hospital left in the Gaza strip where Souad Zohair can receive kidney dialysis. :: Location: Deir al-Balah, Gaza She used to go to a hospital near her home in Rafah for treatment – but it shut down after Israel’s latest offensive. Now, she makes the dangerous journey up the coast with her daughter Umm Bilal Zohair. "I come with my mother for her dialysis session, and we are suffering a lot. It took us an hour on the road, in transportation. And still, one is afraid on the road. It is not safe where we are. They could come in at any second.” Souad needs kidney dialysis to keep her alive, but there are only 19 machines here and staff are running around the clock. Saeed Khattab is the head of the kidney department. He says there’s barely enough time to sterilize machines between patients. "This is the only remaining hospital for dialysis serving the entire Gaza strip, serving around 1,000 remaining patients with kidney failure." Souad’s treatment is supposed to last four hours, but she can only have the machine for two, and no one can say when she will get it again. UMM: "They are under a lot of pressure. Everyone from Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City and central Gaza are here. They are under a lot of pressure in the hospital. They are doing their best, but still, they are under a lot of pressure... It is always in danger." Israel’s assault around Rafah is bringing what’s left of the enclave’s medical system to its knees, doctors say. It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians seeking refuge from bombardments elsewhere.

STORY: :: Greta Thunberg encourages pro-Palestinian protests while in the Eurovision host city :: Greta Thunberg, Activist “I think they should be everywhere. And, once again, young people are leading the way, showing the world how we should react to this, yeah.” :: Malmo, Sweden :: May 9, 2024 Some 100,000 visitors have gathered in the southern Swedish city for the annual kitsch-fest, which is taking place amid protests and boycotts over the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Thunberg, 21, was wrapped in a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf that has become a symbol for Palestinian resistance. Israeli contestant Eden Golan, 20, will perform her song "Hurricane" in the second semi-final later on Thursday.

STORY: Protesters formed a sit-in protest as they scattered rocks across the road to prevent vehicles from passing, bringing traffic to a standstill. A man speaking through a loud speaker provoked a loud "no" from the crowd when asking them if it was reasonable that Israel was delivering aid to "terrorists", referring to militant group Hamas. The protest came as Israeli army forces massed on the outskirts of Rafah, after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces launched a major invasion of the southern Gaza city. Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza after the militant group launched a cross-border attack on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252, most of them civilians.