Georgian lawmakers move closer to passing 'Russian law' targeting the media. Protesters gather again

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s Parliament moved a step closer Wednesday to passing a law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country’s European Union membership bid, as police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the tens of thousands of protesters who thronged surrounding streets.

Dozens of people were arrested the night before, and mass rallies have continued daily in the capital, Tbilisi. Protesters denounce the bill as “the Russian law” because neighboring Russia uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin.

The law would require media and noncommercial organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power,” if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad. The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar proposal last year after large crowds protested.

Eighty-three of Georgia’s 150 lawmakers approved the bill in its second reading, while 23 voted against it. A third and final vote in Parliament is needed before it can be signed into law. Georgian lawmaker Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters on Wednesday that he expected that final vote to happen in mid-May.

Russia-Georgia relations have been complicated and turbulent since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. The two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions.

In the aftermath, Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relations have somewhat improved.

Georgia joined international resolutions condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but it also became a main destination for Russians fleeing military mobilization and political crackdowns. Even Georgia's ruling party has seen internal tensions over its neighbor.

The Interior Ministry said that 63 people were detained following Tuesday's protest.

Georgian television showed Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the pro-West United National Movement party, arriving in Parliament on Wednesday morning with bandages on his nose and forehead. Members of Khabeishvili's party said that he had been assaulted by police during the protests.

Purple bruising and cuts were visible around Khabeishvili's left eye as he urged fellow lawmakers to scrap the bill.

“If you are not interested in how the leader of the main opposition party has been beaten up, then — for the sake of those young people who were injured, who were hit on the heads and bruised — I want to ask you once more, even though I do not have any hope, withdraw this law,” he said.

Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze alleged at a briefing Wednesday that Khabeishvili broke through a police cordon the night before and was injured while he “resisted.” Darakhvelidze alleged that protesters and opposition leaders were “constantly committing violence.” Police broke up the protest after demonstrators tried to block entrances to Parliament.

As protesters gathered once more Wednesday, opposition lawmaker Beqa Liluashvili published a live video from the Parliament chamber showing lawmakers shouting and physically confronting each other. One threw a stack of papers at opponents. Others restrained colleagues.

Opposition lawmaker Helene Khoshtaria accused the ruling party of trying to “drag Georgia into Russian influence” and “close off its European future.”

Speaking to The Associated Press outside Parliament, she described authorities’ response to the rallies as “extremely authoritarian" but said it would not dissuade the protesters.

“We do not want the Soviet regime that our parents have experienced," one protester, Kato Salukvadze, told the AP late Tuesday. “I think that everyone should be in the streets and say no to the Russian law and yes to Europe."

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, increasingly at odds with the governing party, has criticized the bill and vowed to veto it if it is passed by Parliament. But the governing party can overrule the veto and ask the parliamentary speaker to sign the bill into law.

At a media briefing Wednesday, Kobakhidze spoke openly of Georgian Dream's intention to do so, and defended Tbilisi's forceful response to the protests.

“There will be demonstrations today, during the third reading, during the overriding of the veto. (When the law passes), there will be a few days of discomfort. However, in the long term, we will insure the country against polarization and radicalism for years," Kobakhidze told reporters.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, that Tbilisi's use of force against the demonstrators was “unacceptable.”

“Georgia is an EU candidate country, I call on its authorities to ensure the right to peaceful assembly,” he said.

The EU's foreign policy arm earlier this month also criticized Georgian Dream's decision to reintroduce the law, which it said “raises serious concerns” around media freedom in the country — something it called “crucial for the EU accession process.”

“Transparency should not be used as an instrument to limit civil society's capacity to operate freely,” the EU External Action Service said in a statement posted to its website on Apr. 4.

A demonstrator runs as police use tear gas during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators gather during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Thursday, May 2, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators build a barricade during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Thursday, May 2, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators wave a Georgian national flag standing in front of police block during an opposition protest against a bill near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police use water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police use tear gas against demonstrators during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A demonstrator gestures while arguing with the police during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators wave Georgian national flag during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators argue with police that blocked them during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators blocked by the police wave a EU flag during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police face demonstrators during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A woman shows a heart standing in front of riot police during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A demonstrator stands with a EU flag in front of police block during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Riot policemen stand ready to fire gas grenade during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators scuffle with riot police during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Riot police detain a demonstrator during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Riot police use a water cannon during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators sit in front of police line during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations said Tuesday it suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to lack of supplies and insecurity. It also said no aid trucks entered in the past two days via a floating pier set up by the U.S. for sea deliveries.

The U.N. has not specified how many people have stayed in Rafah since the Israeli military began its intensified assault there two weeks ago, but apparently several hundred thousand people remain. The World Food Program said it was also running out of food for central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Rafah have sought shelter in a chaotic exodus, setting up new tent camps or crowding into areas already devastated by previous Israeli offensives.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the U.N’s World Food Program, warned that “humanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse.” If food and other supplies don’t resume entering Gaza “in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread,” she said.

The warning came as Israel seeks to contain the fallout from a request by the chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court for arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, a move supported by three European countries, including key ally France.

The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court cited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged "use of starvation as a method of warfare,” a charge they and other Israeli officials angrily deny. The prosecutor accused three Hamas leaders of war crimes over killings of civilians in the group's Oct. 7 attack.

The U.N says some 1.1 million people in Gaza – nearly half the population — face catastrophic levels of hunger and that the territory is on the brink of famine. The crisis in humanitarian supplies has spiraled in the two weeks since Israel launched an incursion into Rafah on May 6, vowing to root out Hamas fighters. Troops seized the Rafah crossing into Egypt, which has been closed since. Since May 10, only about three dozen trucks made it into Gaza via the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel because fighting makes it difficult for aid workers to reach it, the U.N. says.

For months, the U.N. has warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah could wreck the effort to get food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians across Gaza. Throughout the war, Rafah has been filled with scenes of hungry children holding out pots and plastic containers at makeshift soup kitchens, with many families reduced to eating only one meal a day. The city's population had swelled to some 1.3 million people, most of whom fled fighting elsewhere.

Around 810,000 people have streamed out of Rafah, although Israel says it has not launched the full-fledged invasion of the city it had planned. The United States has said Israel did not present a “credible” plan for evacuating the population or keeping it safe.

The main agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, announced the suspension of distribution in Rafah in a post on X, without elaborating beyond citing the lack of supplies. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UNRWA distribution center and the WFP's warehouses in Rafah were "inaccessible due to ongoing military operations.”

When asked about the ramification of the suspension of distribution, Dujarric replied, “People don’t eat.”

Etefa said the WFP had also stopped distribution in Rafah after exhausting its stocks. It continues passing out hot meals in central Gaza and “limited distributions” of reduced food parcels in central Gaza, but “food parcel stocks will run out within days,” she said.

Israeli officials say they place no restrictions on the amount of aid going through the crossings. Small numbers of aid trucks continue to enter northern Gaza via a crossing from Israel.

The United States has depicted the floating pier it erected on the Gaza coast as a potential route for accelerated deliveries. The first 10 trucks rolled off a ship onto the pier on Friday and were taken to a WFP warehouse. But a second shipment of 11 trucks on Saturday was met by crowds of hungry Palestinians who took supplies, and only five trucks made it to the warehouse, Etefa said.

No further deliveries came from the pier on Sunday or Monday, she said. She said the problem of people taking supplies from convoys will continue without a consistent flow of aid to assure people “this is not a one-off event.”

“The responsibility of ensuring aid reaches those in need does not end at the crossings and other points of entry into Gaza — it extends throughout Gaza itself,” she said.

At the same time, fighting has escalated in northern Gaza as Israeli troops conduct operations against Hamas fighters, who the military says regrouped in areas already targeted in offensives months ago.

One of the main hospitals still operating in the north, Kamal Adwan, was forced to evacuate after it was “targeted” by Israeli troops, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Around 150 staff and dozens of patients fled the facility, including intensive care patients and infants in incubators “under fire from shelling,” it said. The Israeli military did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The nearby Awda hospital has been surrounded by troops the past three days, and an artillery shell hit its fifth floor, the hospital administration said in a statement Tuesday. A day earlier, the international medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said Awda had run out of drinking water.

The war between began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants crossed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostage. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan accused Hamas’ leaders of crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder and sexual violence.

Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between noncombatants and fighters in its count.

Monday's call by Khan for arrest warrants deepens Israel’s global isolation at a time when it is facing growing criticism from even its closest allies over the war in Gaza. France, Belgium, and Slovenia each said they backed Khan' decision.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz headed to France on Tuesday in response, urging it to “declare loud and clear” that the request for warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant "is unacceptable to you and to the French government – regardless of the court’s authority.”

His meetings there could set the tone for how countries navigate the warrants — if they are eventually issued — and whether they could pose a threat to Israeli leaders. A panel of three ICC judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.

Israel still has the support of its top ally, the United States, as well as other Western countries that spoke out against the decision. But if the warrants are issued, they could complicate international travel for Netanyahu and his defense minister, even if they do not face any immediate risk of prosecution because Israel itself is not a member of the court.

The prosecutor also requested warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas is already considered an international terrorist group by the West. Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza. But Haniyeh, the supreme leader of the Islamic militant group, is based in Qatar and frequently travels across the region. Qatar, like Israel, is not a member of the ICC.

Goldenberg reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Majdi Mohammed in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, Jack Jeffery in Jerusalem, John Leicester in Paris, and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Journalists carry their colleague after he was shot in his leg during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Israeli forces raided a militant stronghold Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, killing at least seven and wounding several, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The raid into the Jenin refugee camp is part of months of surging violence in the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli military vehicles are seen during a raid in the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Israeli forces raided a militant stronghold Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, killing at least seven and wounding several, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The raid into the Jenin refugee camp is part of months of surging violence in the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli military vehicles are seen during a raid in the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Israeli forces raided a militant stronghold Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, killing at least seven and wounding several, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The raid into the Jenin refugee camp is part of months of surging violence in the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians mourn their relative who was killed in an Israeli military raid on the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, at a hospital morgue in the city of Jenin, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Israeli forces raided a militant stronghold Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, killing at least seven and wounding several, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The raid into the Jenin refugee camp is part of months of surging violence in the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows an camp before its mass evacuation in Rafah, Gaza, May 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows an evacuated camp in Rafah, Gaza, May 8, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows an evacuated camp in Rafah, Gaza, May 8, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows an camp before its mass evacuation in Rafah, Gaza, May 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Smoke billows after an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 28, 2023. Top Israeli officials are accused of seven war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, speaks to journalists after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 28, 2021. The Hamas officials are accused by the ICC of planning and instigating eight war crimes and crimes against humanity, among them extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and torture. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

FILE - Exterior view of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Monday, May 20, 2024, that he’s seeking arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders in connection with their actions during the seven-month war. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Smoke rises to the sky after explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)