Letter signed by 178 members of US’s most prestigious law faculties calls Israeli reaction to Hamas attack ‘a moral catastrophe’

Israel and Hamas at war – live updates

Israel’s bombardment and intensifying blockade of Gaza in response to this month’s attack by Hamas has been condemned by 178 legal scholars from some of the US’s most prestigious law faculties in a letter to Joe Biden.

Sent on the eve of the US president’s highly sensitive trip to Israel, the letter calls the Israeli reaction “collective punishment” and “a moral catastrophe” and urges Biden to seek an immediate ceasefire.