The Paris Games' grandiose opening ceremony is being squeezed by security and transport issues

PARIS (AP) — The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds.

But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000.

Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ambitions amid ongoing security threats. Then, on March 24, France raised its security readiness to the highest level after a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

French President Emmanuel Macron says the ceremony could be shifted instead to the national stadium at Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.

Security and transportation are the biggest concerns heading into the Paris Games, which run from July 26-Aug. 11.

Here is an overview of preparations:

The Olympic Village and the bio-based Aquatics Centre are in proximity to Stade de France. The 5,000-seat aquatics venue made predominantly of wood connects to the national stadium via a footbridge.

While the village and the aquatics center in the poor, run-down area both leave a legacy for the future, the Games are steeped in history across the 35 venues.

Equestrian riders will gallop on the grounds of the royal Palace of Versailles, where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette once held lavish banquets.

B-boys and B-girls cutting improbable shapes, BMX freestylers launching into gravity-defying moves, skaters flipping boards and 3-on-3 basketball players facing off will provide a youthful vibe at an urban park at Place de la Concorde, a prominent location in France’s gory past.

It is where Louis XVI died by guillotine in 1793 and where French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre met the same fate a year later. It's also been home to the Luxor Obelisk for nearly 200 years.

The Grand Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900, hosts fencing and taekwondo, while the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in the northwest suburb of Colombes is another link to the past: It was the main venue for the 1924 Paris Games. This time it holds field hockey matches.

The Parc des Princes soccer stadium, home to Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé, is one of seven stadiums around the country hosting matches. France fans hope Mbappé will play for Les Bleus.

Beach volleyball takes place near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, while tennis, naturally, is at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal has made history with his record 14 Grand Slam titles at one tournament, also packs a punch as the venue for boxing.

Surfers won't be in Paris, however, but rather nearly 10,000 miles away in Teahupo’o, a coastal village in Tahiti, and they will sleep on a cruise ship docked at the French Polynesian island.

Breezy Marseille hosts the sailing events.

Around 9 million of the 10 million available tickets have been sold, organizers said, with 63% of buyers from France. The top 10-selling sports in order: soccer, track and field, basketball, rugby sevens, volleyball, handball, beach volleyball, field hockey, tennis and water polo.

The Paris Games' organizing committee will put an additional 250,000 tickets up for sale on April 17 to mark the 100 days to go.

Tickets are on sale via the official platform, with a sliding barometer allowing buyers to choose a price ranging from 24 euros ($26) to 2,700 euros ($2,900) — the highest price for watching the opening ceremony, the first to be held outside of a usual stadium setting.

Remaining hospitality packages for soccer matches and the women's basketball quarterfinals begin at 250 euros ($269), and they start at 375 euros ($404) for the men's basketball game between the United States and South Sudan in Lille — one hour from Paris by train — on July 31.

Regular tickets for the U.S. women's gold medal-game rematch against Japan on July 29 range from 50 euros ($54) to 200 euros ($216).

Want to watch the BMX freestyle finals? Regular tickets are sold out.

But fans can still get tickets for the men's 200 meters and women's 400 meter hurdles finals on Aug. 8 at Stade de France with tickets that day priced at 295 euros, 525 euros and 980 euros.

Around 30,000 police officers are expected to be deployed each day, with 45,000 working the opening ceremony.

With its own resources stretched thin, France has asked 46 countries to help provide about 2,200 extra officers, many of whom will be armed. The French Defense Ministry also has asked foreign nations for a small number of military personnel, including sniffer dogs.

Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Games’ organizing committee, said there will be unprecedented security measures.

“France has never deployed so many means for security,” he said. “I have faith that the security services in our country will make the Games safe.”

Cameras will be increased around the city, but facial recognition will not be used.

So far, 120 chiefs of state have confirmed they will attend the opening ceremony. Holding it outside a stadium means greater exposure for athletes paraded on 84 boats on the Seine along a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) route toward the Eiffel Tower, with 20,000 people living in apartments having views of the ceremony. Behind multiple security cordons, paying spectators will watch from the lower embankments while upper embankments are free for those with invitations.

An area around the Seine is expected to be closed to traffic a week before the parade and airspace will be closed on the night of the ceremony, France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.

Swedish swimmer Victor Johansson will not attend the ceremony because it's the day before the 400-meter freestyle, but is confident it is safe.

“I don’t have any worries at all," Johansson said. "I think they’ve taken all the precautionary actions to make it safe and fun for everyone involved.”

Driving in congested Paris can be hellish at the best of times, let alone during a major international event.

Some of the 2.1 million people living within the city limits plan to flee Paris for two-plus weeks while motorists are angered by a proposal that would require them to apply online for a QR code to access traffic-restricted zones.

There's also the threat of train strikes to take into account.

The CGT public servants union has announced plans to strike during the Olympics, which could mean many transport workers walking out.

Transport operators are gearing up to carry between 600,000 to 800,000 Olympic visitors per day. An ad campaign on billboards called “Anticipate the Games” directs people to a website instructing them how to lessen the impact.

National rail giant SNCF has blocked sales of tickets for July 26 to and from three major stations all very near the Seine: Gare de Lyon — France’s biggest station for main line trains — Paris-Bercy and Austerlitz. Some other smaller stations will also close.

Subway tickets will rise from €2.10 ($2.30) to €4 ($4.30) for a single ticket and a book of 10 tickets from €16.90 ($18.30) to €32 ($34.60).

Tourists opting for a Paris 2024 pass pay 16 euros ($17) per day or 70 euros ($76) weekly, a far cry from the free public transport once envisaged. And an express train running from Paris’ main international airport, Charles de Gaulle, to the center of the city in 20 minutes has been shelved until 2027.

But a newly extended Metro service on Line 14 is expected to be ready in June, carrying people from Paris’ second airport, Orly, to an Olympic hub that includes the village, national stadium and aquatics center.

The Olympic Village will house more than 14,000 athletes and officials, with apartments holding a maximum of eight people.

Fans and tourists, however, have been subjected to an increase in hotel and Airbnb prices.

The Paris region has France’s greatest concentration of hotel accommodation, with 160,000 rooms. Adding rental accommodations, campsites and other options, the region has around 260,000 rooms for the Olympics.

Although some hotels tripled prices, competition from Airbnbs forced them to backpedal. Average prices for a one-night stay dropped from about 760 euros ($825) to 520 euros ($565) — still far higher than the average price last July of 200 euros ($220).

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, speaks to journalists during the inauguration of the Olympic Aquatics Center (CAO) in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The aquatic center will host the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and officials attend the inauguration of the Olympic Aquatics Center (CAO) in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The aquatic center will host the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, surrounded by Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Olympics Organising Committee, left, Ile-de-France's Regional Council President Valerie Pecresse, third left, and Grand Paris' Metropole President Patrick Ollier visit the Olympic Aquatics Center (CAO), a multifunctional venue for the 2024 Paris Olympic in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The aquatic center will host the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Olympics Organising Committee, attend the inauguration of the Olympic Aquatics Center (CAO) in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The aquatic center will host the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)

Security and transportation issues overshadow grandiose opening ceremony heading into Paris Games

FILE - The Olympic rings are set up on Trocadero plaza that overlooks the Eiffel Tower, a day after the official announcement that the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be in the French capital, in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. The organizers of the Paris Games say the Olympic rings will be displayed on the Eiffel Tower. The five-ring creation is 29-meters long and 15-meter high, made entirely of recycled steel, the Games organizers said in a statement Monday April, 8, 2024. (AP Photo//Michel Euler, File)

Security and transportation issues overshadow grandiose opening ceremony heading into Paris Games

Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials said. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old.

Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. The United States and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel on his latest trip to the region, which began in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He said Israel needs to do more to allow aid to enter Gaza, but that the best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis is for the two sides to agree to a cease-fire.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, around two-thirds of them children and women. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.

Currently:

— Israeli officials are concerned the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants.

— Blinken is back in the Middle East this week. He has his work cut out for him.

— Student protests over the war in Gaza roil U.S. campuses ahead of graduations.

— Likely missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targets a ship in the Red Sea.

— Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza as Rafah offensive looms.

— AP's full coverage of Israel-Hamas war.

Here is the latest:

TEL AVIV — The families of two Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas appealed Monday to both the militant group’s leader in Gaza and Israel’s government to agree to a truce that would see the captives released.

The public plea from the families of Keith Siegel and Omri Miran comes as international pressure mounts on Israel and Hamas to accept a drafted cease-fire agreement after months of failed negotiations. Israel has also vowed to launch a ground offensive into Gaza’s densely packed southern city of Rafah, where Israel says leading Hamas militants are holed up along with the remaining hostages.

“I appeal to Sinwar, please approve this deal. And to the members of the (Israeli) Cabinet, please approve any deal,” said Dany Miran, father of Omri Miran, in central Tel Aviv.

Both men were captured by Hamas, along with some 250 others, during the militant group’s assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

In recent days, Israeli politicians have indicated they would be open to a hostage deal in exchange for suspending a planned ground invasion of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Washington, Israel’s chief ally, has accused Israel of lacking a plan that will keep displaced Palestinians safe in the event of a ground invasion.

Hamas has continually said it will not release the remaining hostages without an agreement to end the war. Netanyahu has rejected that demand, saying Israel will continue its offensive until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.

Hamas is still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of some 30 others. Most of the rest were freed in November in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

NEW YORK — Columbia University delivered an ultimatum for pro-Palestinian student protesters to sign a form and leave their ten encampment by Monday afternoon or face suspension.

Colleges around the country are imploring protesters to clear out encampments with rising levels of urgency as classes are wrapping up for the semester and campuses are preparing for graduation ceremonies.

The notice sent by Columbia to protesters in the encampment Monday said that if they leave by the designated time and sign a form committing to abide by university policies through June 2025 or an earlier graduation, they can finish the semester in good standing. If not, the letter said, they will be suspended, pending further investigation.

A spokesperson for the Ivy League university in New York City confirmed the letter had gone out to students but declined to comment further.

Mahmoud Khalil, the lead negotiator on behalf of protesters, said university representatives began passing out the notices at the encampment shortly after 10 a.m. Monday. He said discussions were ongoing about how to proceed.

Early protests at Columbia, where demonstrators set up tents in the center of the campus, sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country. Students and others have been sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

PARIS — Dozens of students gathered near the Sorbonne university in Paris on Monday to protest in support of the Palestinians, echoing similar demonstrations on campuses in the United States.

About 100 demonstrators took part in the protest near the prestigious university, waving a giant Palestinian flag and chanting slogans in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war.

The Sorbonne occupies a unique place at the heart of French public and intellectual life. Last week, President Emmanuel Macron chose it as the venue to deliver a speech on his vison of Europe ahead of elections for the European Parliament in June.

Last week protests broke out at another elite university in the French capital region, the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po. Tensions had broken out on campus as pro-Palestinian students sought to occupy an amphitheater.

On Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.

The protest ended peacefully, when students agreed to evacuate the building late Friday. The head of Sciences Po said an agreement with students had been reached.

JERUSALEM — A U.S. Navy ship involved in an American-led effort to bring more aid into the besieged Gaza Strip is offshore from the enclave and building out a floating platform for the operation, according to satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press.

The U.S. military and Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the position of the USNS Roy P. Benavidez. Both Israel and the U.S. have said they hope to have the mobile pier in place and operations underway by early May.

Israeli inspections have caused long backups of aid trucks entering Gaza by land.

Under the plan by the U.S. military, aid will be loaded onto commercial ships in Cyprus to sail to the floating platform now under construction off Gaza. The pallets will be loaded onto trucks, which will be loaded onto smaller ships that travel to a metal, floating two-lane causeway. The 550-meter (1,800-foot) causeway will lead to shore.

JERUSALEM — A suspected missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea, the latest assault in their campaign against international shipping in the crucial maritime route.

The attack Monday happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. The private security firm Ambrey said a salvo of three missiles targeted a Malta-flagged container ship traveling from Djibouti onward to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge any attack there, though it typically takes the rebels several hours before claiming their assaults.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials appear to be increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants against the country’s leaders.

The ICC launched a probe three years ago into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian militants going back to the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, but it has given no indication such warrants are imminent. There was no comment from the court on Monday.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday that it had informed Israeli missions of “rumors” that warrants might be issued against senior political and military officials.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said “we expect the court to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials,” saying such warrants would “provide a morale boost” to Hamas and other groups that Israel is fighting.

A series of Israeli announcements in recent days about allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza appears to be aimed in part at heading off possible ICC action.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.”

“The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,” he posted on the social platform X. It was not clear what prompted the post.

The ICC investigation covers allegations going back to the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, as well as Israel’s construction of Jewish settlements in occupied territory that the Palestinians want for a future state.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said during a visit to the region in December that the investigation is “moving forward at pace, with rigor, with determination and with an insistence that we act not on emotion but on solid evidence.”

Neither Israel nor its close ally the United States accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, but any warrants could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries. They would also serve as a major rebuke of Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians.

The International Court of Justice, a separate body, is investigating whether Israel has committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in Gaza, with any ruling expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused both international courts of bias.

BEIRUT — Hamas' military wing says it hit an Israeli army post from southern Lebanon.

The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the Monday morning shelling of the army command in northern Israel was in retaliation for “the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza.”

Hamas has fired rockets from Lebanon on several occasions since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.

The militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, has also attacked Israeli army posts from Lebanon. Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily strikes with Israeli forces in the border region — and sometimes beyond — for almost seven months.

More than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 273 Hezbollah fighters and more than 50 civilians. On the Israeli side, 12 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials say. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old.

Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. The United States and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe.

The overnight strikes hit three family homes. The first killed 11 people, including four siblings aged 9 to 27, according to records at the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The second strike killed eight people, including a 33-year-old father and his 5-day-old boy, according to hospital records. The third strike killed three siblings, aged 23, 19 and 12. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital.

Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because the militants fight in densely populated areas. But the military rarely accounts for individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago.

Just ahead of Blinken’s visit — which includes a little more than a day in Saudi Arabia before stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday — President Joe Biden spoke by phone Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blinken’s trip comes amid renewed concerns about the conflict spreading in the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi rapprochement effectively on hold as Israel refuses to consider one of the Saudis’ main conditions for normalized relations: the creation of a Palestinian state.

The conflict has fueled mass protests around the world that have spread to American college campuses. U.S. support for Israel, particularly arms transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is keenly aware poses potential problems for Biden in an election year.

TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. President Joe Biden has again spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said Sunday, as pressure builds on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a cease-fire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.

The White House said that Biden reiterated his “clear position” as Israel plans to invade Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah despite global concern for more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. The U.S. opposes the invasion on humanitarian grounds, straining relations between the allies. Israel is among the countries U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit as he returns to the Middle East on Monday.

Biden also stressed that progress in delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza be “sustained and enhanced,” according to the statement. The call lasted just under an hour, and they agreed the onus remains on Hamas to accept the latest offer in negotiations, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly.

There was no comment from Netanyahu’s office.

People gather next to a sign displayed on the street that reads in Hebrew "Rafah can wait, they cannot", in reference of a possible Israeli offensive on the Rafah, city in southern Gaza Strip, and calling for the release of the Israeli hostages held by the Hamas militant group, during a protest in Tel Aviv, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group call for their release during a protest in Tel Aviv, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group call for their release during a protest in Tel Aviv, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group call for their release during a protest in Tel Aviv, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A pro-Palestinian activist is seen within an encampment set up on the McGill University campus in Montreal, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

Mourners carry the bodies of members of the Abu Taha family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Al-Salam cemetery, east of Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council and US to discuss the humanitarian crises faced in Gaza, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Monday, April 29, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

People listen to a speaker at a pro-Palestinian encampment, advocating for financial disclosure and divestment from all companies tied to Israel and calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, inside the campus of Columbia University, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the USNS Roy P. Benavidez in the Mediterranean Sea off shore from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, April 27, 2024. A U.S. Navy ship involved in the American-led effort to bring more aid into the besieged Gaza Strip is off shore from the enclave, slowly building out a floating platform for the operation, satellite photos analyzed Monday, April 29, 2024, by The Associated Press show. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

Mourners pray over the bodies of members of the Abu Taha family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Al-Salam cemetery, east of Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

Mourners carry the bodies of members of the Abu Taha family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Al-Salam cemetery, east of Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council and US to discuss the humanitarian crises faced in Gaza, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Monday, April 29, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People listen to a speaker during a pro-Palestinian encampment, advocating for financial disclosure and divestment from all companies tied to Israel and calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, inside Columbia University campus on Sunday, April 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People carry the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat into the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)