i24 News – Hamas rejected the Qatari offer for a hostage and ceasefire deal, accepted by Israel, an Israeli official told local media on Saturday.

Nevertheless the talks in Doha are ongoing, the negotiation team is working with the mediators Egypt and Qatar and is in continuous contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, the source said.

Rejection of the Qatari offer is consistent with the jihadist group’s modus operandi of raising difficulties, refusing to compromise and and waging a war of ideas aimed at sabotaging the negotiations, misrepresenting the talks to the Gazan population and pressuring the Israeli public, the source said.

The Israeli delegation was sent to Doha on the basis of the Qatari offer, to which Israel agreed and received the mandate required for the talks.

Israel has shown a willingness to be flexible in the negotiations, while Hamas is steadfast in its refusal, while taking positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement, according to the Israeli source.

If Hamas had accepted the Qatari offer, an agreement could have been reached and negotiations could have been entered into for 60 days on ending the war in accordance with Israel’s war goals.

The post Israeli Official: ‘Israel Accepted the Qatari Offer, Hamas Rejected It, Talks Ongoing’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – The IDF is conducting strikes against targets of the Hamas terror group in the area of Beit Hanoun on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.

A short while ago, dozens of IAF fighter jets struck over 35 Hamas terror targets in the area.

Among the targets struck was underground Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area.

Earlier this week the military said that the Givati Brigade’s combat team has joined the 99th Division and launched an operation to encircle Beit Hanoun.

“The forces are operating to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and Hamas’ military capabilities in the area,” the IDF statement read.

According to the IDF, a significant number of Hamas terrorists remain above and below ground in Beit Hanoun, conducting guerrilla activities and artillery strikes against IDF personnel.

The post Striking Some 35 Hamas Targets, IDF Says It Ramps Up Activity in Beit Hanoun Area first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A recently published Harvard Crimson poll of over 1,400 Harvard faculty revealed sweeping opposition to interim university President Alan Garber’s efforts to strike a deal with the federal government to restore $3 billion in research grants and contracts it froze during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.

In the survey, conducted from April 23 to May 12, 71 percent of arts and sciences faculty oppose negotiating a settlement with the administration, which may include concessions conservatives have long sought from elite higher education, such as meritocratic admissions, viewpoint diversity, and severe disciplinary sanctions imposed on students who stage unauthorized protests that disrupt academic life.

Additionally, 64 percent “strongly disagree” with shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, 73 percent oppose rejecting foreign applicants who hold anti-American beliefs which are “hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence,” and 70 percent strongly disagree with revoking school recognition from pro-Hamas groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).

“More than 98 percent of faculty who responded to the survey supported the university’s decision to sue the White House,” The Crimson reported. “The same percentage backed Harvard’s public rejection of the sweeping conditions that the administration set for maintaining the funds — terms that included external audits of Harvard’s hiring practices and the disciplining of student protesters.”

Alyza Lewin of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law told The Algemeiner that the poll results indicate that Harvard University will continue to struggle to address campus antisemitism on campus, as there is now data showing that its faculty reject the notion of excising intellectualized antisemitism from the university.

“If you, for example, have faculty teaching courses that are regularly denying that the Jews are a people and erasing the Jewish people’s history in the land of Israel, that’s going to undermine your efforts to address the antisemitism on your campus,” Lewin explained. “When Israel is being treated as the ‘collective Jew,’ when the conversation is not about Israel’s policies, when the criticism is not what the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism] would call criticism of Israel similar to that against any other country, they have to understand that it is the demonization, delegitimization, and applying a double standard to Jews as individuals or to Israel.”

She added, “Faculty must recognize … the demonization, vilification, the shunning, and the marginalizing of Israelis, Jews, and Zionists, when it happens, as violations of the anti-discrimination policies they are legally and contractually obligated to observe.”

The Crimson survey results were published amid reports that Garber was working to reach a deal with the Trump administration that is palatable to all interested parties, including the university’s left-wing social milieu.

According to a June 26 report published by The Crimson, Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”

On June 30, the Trump administration issued Harvard a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.

The correspondence, sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a torrent of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus, both in the classroom and out of it.

“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the four federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”

The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Harvard again on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.

Citing Harvard’s failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated other forms of hatred in the past, The US Department of Educationthe called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.

“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Harvard Faculty Oppose Deal With Trump, Distancing From Hamas Apologists: Crimson Poll first appeared on Algemeiner.com.