Financial Times - Raya Jalabi / Hamas leader says examining Gaza ceasefire proposal in ‘positive spirit’
 

• Hamas said it would send negotiators back to Cairo “as soon as possible” to resume talks on the latest proposal to secure the release of Israeli hostages and halt the war in Gaza, after the US said “the time is now” to reach an agreement. 

• In his first public comments since mediators presented the plan to Hamas, the militant group’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, “stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the ceasefire proposal”. 

• Haniyeh’s statement came as the US, Egypt and Qatar, which are facilitating indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, stepped up the pressure on the warring parties to get a deal over the line. 

• US secretary of state Antony Blinken this week said the proposal before Hamas was “extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel” and urged the group to “get this done”.

   

The Guardian - Jessica Glenza and Lois Beckett / More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses
 

• More than 2,000 people have now been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses in recent weeks. 

• Police arrested more than 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, pushing the total past 2,000, according to an Associated Press tally. 

• More than 200 students were arrested at the University of California, Los Angeles, as police cleared a fortified encampment, and more than 90 students were arrested at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. 

• Dozens more were arrested at the University of New Hampshire and at the University of Buffalo. In Oregon, police moved into the school’s library on Thursday, which has been occupied by demonstrators since Monday.

   

The Washington Post - Kareem Fahim and Andrew Jeong / Turkey halts trade with Israel, demands increased flow of aid into Gaza
 

• Turkey halted all trade with Israel on Thursday, a step that marked a further deterioration of ties between the two governments stemming from the war in Gaza. 
• The Turkish Trade Ministry posted a statement on social media announcing the restrictions and calling on Israel to increase the flow of aid into Gaza. 
• Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the ministry said in its statement. Turkey’s decision to halt aid was first reported by Bloomberg. 

• Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, wrote on social media Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports.”

   

Euractiv - Théo Bourgery-Gonse / France treads fine line on future economic ties with China
 

• With France set to host on Monday (6 May) China’s President Xi Jinping on his first state visit to Europe in five years, Paris and Brussels are trying to find the right balance between taking an offensive stance against Beijing and attracting new investments. 

• With Beijing’s financial backing of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the European Commission’s investigation into Chinese subsidies for producing electric vehicles underway, Sino-EU relations are strained. 

• The visit will be “very political”, the Elysée said. 

• France will seek to balance attracting more Chinese investment in cutting-edge sectors, notably the automotive industry, with advocating for a greater level playing field and more reciprocity in trade relations.

Our opinion reads for today:
 

• Foreign Affairs - Jack Watling / American Aid Alone Won’t Save Ukraine 

• The Economist / Emmanuel Macron’s urgent message for Europe 

• Foreign Policy -  Simon Frankel Pratt / When AI Decides Who Lives and Dies 

• Euractiv - Sander Tordoir and Zach Meyers / It’s up to the EU to hold back the great tech decoupling