Gaza

New York City – Thousands of New Yorkers joined world diplomats in giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder as he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Protesters on Friday morning rallied against the Israeli prime minister on the streets of New York City as dozens of delegates marched out of the UN Assembly hall when he began his speech on the fourth day of the General Debate.

And blocks away, diplomats representing countries across the world were meeting as part of the Hague Group to discuss taking concrete measures against Israel, including sanctions, for its nearly two-year assault on Gaza.

Al-Sharif Nassef, who was participating in the New York protest, said it was a “shame” that Netanyahu was in the city instead of The Hague to answer to his alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for him last year.

“All the New Yorkers who are here today support his arrest. He is not welcome here,” Nassef told Al Jazeera.

“And Inshallah [God willing], under the new mayorship, he will be arrested as soon as he steps forward in New York City.”

Earlier this month, New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamadani promised to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu. But the US is not a party to the tribunal, so it is not clear whether the New York Police Department has the legal power to detain the Israeli prime minister.

‘Is baby formula Hamas?’

After Netanyahu finished his speech, protesters marched from Times Square to a park near the UN complex on the East River.

They waved Palestinian flags and chanted “free Palestine” and “arms embargo now” as the demonstration snaked through the streets amid heavy police presence.

Some demonstrators also displayed the flags of Colombia and Ireland – two countries that have been vocal in their support for Palestinians.

Nasreen Issa, a member of the Palestine Youth Movement – NYC, which helped organise the march, said the large turnout sends a message that it is “unacceptable” for the US to roll out the red carpet for Netanyahu.

Issa said that demonstrations work even if their effects are not immediately felt.

“Protests play an important role in generating the political will that can make real change happen,” the activist told Al Jazeera.

Meagan Fredette held a cardboard sign that said, “Is baby formula Hamas???” to highlight the Israeli restrictions on basic food items in Gaza, which have plunged the territory into deadly famine, according to a UN-backed monitor.

Fredette said she feels “disgusted” as a New Yorker that Netanyahu is in her city.

“I feel angry. It’s embarrassing that he’s here. He doesn’t deserve to be here,” she told Al Jazeera. “He’s a literal, wanted criminal. New Yorkers were not happy that he’s here.”

As the demonstrators arrived outside the security perimeter at the UN, they encountered about a dozen counterprotesters waving Israeli flags.

But law enforcement officers separated the two sets of protesters and confined the small pro-Israel rally to a barricaded area.

When a man with an Israeli flag started shouting obscenities at the anti-Netanyahu demonstrators, the police quickly intervened and ordered him to move away from the protest.

Broadcasting Netanyahu’s speech through Palestinian phones

Inside the UN General Assembly hall earlier, Netanyahu addressed a room that was partly emptied by the walkout, and he received applause that came only from one area on the upper level of the room.

Asked whether the people clapping for Netanyahu were guests of the Israeli mission, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, only said, “Every delegation is allowed to bring in guests.”

Netanyahu’s office said on X that the prime minister had ordered the hacking of the phones of Palestinians in Gaza to stream his speech on the devices.

“In an unprecedented action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu … has announced that the [Israeli military] took control of the telephones of Gaza residents and Hamas members, and that his speech is now being broadcast live via the telephones,” the post said.

His office also posted on social media that the Israeli military broadcast the address on a loudspeaker to the starving and beleaguered population of the territory.

Al Jazeera asked Dujarric for a reaction to a UN function being used as a tool to taunt an entire population, but he declined to respond.

“I have no specific comment on that,” the spokesperson said.

“I think the focus should be on alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people, getting more humanitarian aid in, and getting the hostages out,” Dujarric added.

Israel has killed more than 65,500 people in Gaza, including approximately 20,000 children, and turned nearly the entire territory into rubble.

The UNGA is meeting this year amid growing international anger at Israel’s conduct. Several Western countries that are traditionally allied with Israel recognised the state of Palestine during the assembly.

Hague group meeting

On Friday, diplomats from 24 countries – part of the Hague Group, which aims to halt the war on Gaza – called for action to stop the atrocities beyond statements and symbolism.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, urged tangible moves against Israel, including sanctions.

“We are out of time because if we fail to act, children are killed,” Mansour told a Hague Group meeting.

“Palestinian children are killed, starved, orphaned, burned and traumatised, families are shattered, life is destroyed, lands are stolen and territories are annexed.”

Mansour also called for international support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The meeting included representatives from Colombia, South Africa, Qatar, Turkiye, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ireland, Spain and Uruguay.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned against failing to stop Israeli atrocities.

“International law requires states not only to refrain from committing genocide, but also to prevent it. Failure to do so may give rise to state responsibility, including for complicity in genocide,” he said.

“Time has come for States to fulfil their obligations under the Genocide Convention by adopting effective measures to ensure that they do not, directly or indirectly, collaborate with its perpetrators.”

Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela spoke of the youngest victims of Israel’s war in Gaza who are given medical treatment in his country.

A U.K. judge has thrown out a terror charge against a member of the rap group Kneecap.

Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, a 27-year-old Belfast artist who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, had been charged with allegedly displaying a flag supporting terror group Hezbollah at a show in London last year. (Ó hAnnaidh denied the charges, and said the band doesn’t support Hezbollah.)

At this Friday‘s hearing — one to determine proper jurisdiction — chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said, “I find that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary [attorney general or director of public prosecutions] consent within the six-month statutory time limit,” adding that “this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge.”

“These proceedings against the defendant were instituted unlawfully and are null,” Goldspring said, releasing Ó hAnnaidh to raucous cheers from Kneecap supporters — including the rapper’s parents — in the courtroom.

The decision came as relief for Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who posted on social media: “These charges were part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Kneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine.”

Kneecap had recently canceled a U.S. tour, citing the court hearing as an obstacle to performing in the U.S.

Addressing the public outside the courtroom, Ó hAnnaidh said, “This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public, never about terrorism. A word used by your government to discredit people you oppress. It was always about Gaza. About what happens if you dare to speak up.”

Relating his Palestinian activism to Ireland’s own history of colonization, he added, “As people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under your empire. Your attempts to silence us have failed, because we’re right and you’re wrong.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), attempting to justify his country’s genocide in Gaza and denouncing Western allies for failing to stand by it in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Speaking at UNGA in New York on Friday, the increasingly isolated Israeli leader railed against the “disgraceful decision” by some Western countries in recent days to recognise a Palestinian state.

“It will be a mark of shame on all of you,” he said.

“Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews, and against innocent people everywhere.”

Netanyahu delivered his speech to a sparse audience because many delegates left the General Assembly hall in protest as he made his way towards the stage.

The Israeli leader insisted that, despite the growing international pressure and condemnation of genocide, ​​Israel “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.

“Western leaders may have buckled under the pressure,” he said. “And I guarantee you one thing: Israel won’t.”

Message to Hamas: Surrender or die

Netanyahu’s speech was also broadcast into Gaza via loudspeakers mounted on Israel’s border with the territory, a fact he acknowledged in his speech, issuing a message directly to the Israeli captives held by Hamas in the territory.

“We have not forgotten you, not even for a second,” he said. “The people of Israel are with you. We will not falter, and we will not rest until we bring all of you home.”

He said that, thanks to an “unprecedented operation” by the Israeli military, his speech was also being transmitted to the cellphones of people in Gaza, including Hamas leadership.

He issued an ultimatum that they should lay down their weapons and release the captives, or they would die.

‘You have to stand with Israel’

In his speech, Netanyahu — who faces an International Criminal Court warrant over alleged war crimes and growing global criticism to halt his nearly two-year war on Gaza — laid out a familiar narrative.

He detailed the horrors of the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, detailed the “seven-front war” that Israel had since waged, largely alone, against its enemies in the region, and criticised Western allies for failing to back it in what he painted as a shared battle against Islamist radicals who he described as “barbarians at the gate”.

“You can’t appease your way out of jihad,” he said. “You have to stand with Israel.”

Netanyahu wore a badge with a QR code on his lapel and encouraged his audience to scan it to receive Israel’s account of the October 7 attack, which killed at least 1,139 people.

“You too will see why we fight and why we must win. It’s all in here,” he said.

He said that had the United States suffered losses proportionate to those Israel had sustained in an attack, there was no way it would allow the attacker to continue to pose a threat.

Members of the US delegation in attendance, which has been Israel’s staunchest defender at the international organisation and main military backer, could be seen applauding throughout the speech.

Netanyahu has repeatedly used the 2023 attack, which killed at least 1,139 people, to justify continuing the war in Gaza, which has to date killed more than 65,000 people, according to local health authorities.

Denial of genocide

Holding a map titled “The Curse” as a visual aide, he listed off the enemies Israel had dealt with around the region, including Gaza, Yemen, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Iraqi militia.

He denied Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, as a UN inquiry and a growing number of experts have found, saying Israel’s military would not tell them to evacuate if they were trying to commit genocide.

“Would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population it is supposedly targeting to get out of harm’s way?” he said.

He also denied Israel was deliberately starving the population of Gaza, where famine has been recorded, blaming Hamas for stealing aid into the territory and selling it to finance the war.

Western allies ‘caved’

Netanyahu was particularly scathing of Israel’s Western allies, who have increasingly condemned its actions in Gaza and recognised a Palestinian state in a bid to bring about pressure to end the war.

“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11,” Netanyahu said.

He said that “when the going got tough,” many Western countries had “caved”, condemning rather than supporting Israel in response to what he said was pressure from a hostile media, “anti-Semitic mobs” and radical Islamist constituents.

Addressing Western leaders, he said, “You know deep down that Israel is fighting your fight,” and claimed, without evidence, that behind closed doors, leaders had thanked him for his country’s efforts in securing the world from terror.

Four of America’s nominally closest allies — Britain, Australia, France and Canada — disgraced themselves this week by recognizing a so-called Palestinian state. In so doing, these nations didn’t merely betray their Western civilizational inheritance. They also rewarded terrorism, strengthened the genocidal ambitions of the global jihad and sent a chilling message: The path to international legitimacy runs not through the difficult work of building up a nation-state and engaging in diplomacy, but through mass murder, the weaponization of transnational institutions and the erasure of historical truth.

The Trump administration has already denounced this craven capitulation by our allies. There should be no recognition of an independent Palestinian state at this moment in history. Such a recognition is an abdication not only of basic human decency, but also of national interest and strategic sanity.

The global march toward recognition of an independent Palestinian state ignores decades of brutal facts on the ground as well as the specific tide of blood behind this latest surge. It was less than two years ago — Oct. 7, 2023 — that Hamas launched the most barbaric anti-Jewish pogrom since the Holocaust: 6,000 terrorists poured into Israel, massacring roughly 1,200 innocent people in acts of unconscionable depravity — systematic rape, torture, kidnapping of babies. The terrorists livestreamed their own atrocities and dragged more than 250 hostages back to Gaza’s sprawling subterranean terror dungeons, where dozens remain to this day.

Many gullible liberal elites wish to believe that the radical jihadists of Hamas do not represent the broader Palestinian-Arab population, but that is a lie. Polls consistently show — and anecdotal videos of large street crowds consistently demonstrate — that Hamas and like-minded jihadist groups maintain overwhelming popularity in both Gaza and Judea and Samaria (what the international community refers to as the West Bank). These groups deserve shame, scorn and diplomatic rebuke — not fawning sympathy and United Nations red carpets.

The “government” in Gaza is a theocratic, Iranian-backed terror entity whose founding charter drips with unrepentant Jew-hatred and whose leaders routinely celebrate the wanton slaughter of innocent Israelis as triumphs of “resistance.” Along with the kleptocratic Palestinian Authority dictatorship in Ramallah, this is who, and what, Group of 7 powers like Britain and France have decided to reward with an imprimatur of legitimate statehood.

There is no meaningful “peace partner,” and no “two-state” vision to be realized, amid this horrible reality. There is only a sick cult of violence, lavishly funded from Tehran and eager for widespread international recognition as a stepping stone toward the destruction of Israel — and the broader West for which Israel is a proxy.

For decades, Western leaders maintained a straightforward position: There can be no recognition of a Palestinian state outside of direct negotiations with Israel, full demilitarization and the unqualified acceptance of Israel’s right to exist in secure borders as a distinctly Jewish state. The move at the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state torches that policy, declaring to the world that savagery and maximalist rejectionism are the currency of international legitimacy. By rewarding unilateralism and eschewing direct negotiation, these reckless Western governments have proved us international law skeptics right: The much-ballyhooed “peace process” agreements, such as the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, are not worth the paper they were written on.

In the wake of Oct. 7, these nations condemned the massacre, proclaimed solidarity with Israel and even briefly suspended funding for UNRWA, the U.N. aid group for the Palestinian territories, after agency employees were accused of participating in the attack. Yet, under the relentless drumbeat of anti-Israel activism and diplomatic cowardice, they have now chosen to rehabilitate the Palestinian-Arab nationalist cause — not after the leaders of the cause renounced terrorism, but while its most gruesome crimes remained unpunished, its hostages still languish in concentration camp-like squalor and its leaders still clamor for the annihilation of Israel.

Trump should clarify not only that America will not join in this dangerous, high-stakes charade, but also that there could very well be negative trade or diplomatic repercussions for countries that recognize an independent Palestinian terror state. The reason for such consequences would be simple: Undermining America’s strongest ally in the Middle East while simultaneously creating yet another new terror-friendly Islamist state directly harms the American national interest. There is no American national interest — none, zero — in the creation of a new Palestinian state in the heart of the Holy Land. On the contrary, as the Abraham Accords peace deals of 2020 proved, there is plenty of reason to embolden Israel. Contra liberal elites, it is this bolstering of Israel that fosters genuine regional peace.

The world must know: In the face of evil, America does not flinch, does not equivocate and does not reward those who murder our friends and threaten the Judeo-Christian West. As long as the Jewish state stands on the front lines of civilization, the United States must remain at its side, unwavering, unbowed and unashamed. Basic human decency and the American national interest both require nothing less.

Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.” This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. X: @josh_hammer

United States President Donald Trump has said that Israel cannot annex the occupied West Bank, a statement that puts him firmly at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his ultranationalist government who have been pressing for annexation of the Palestinian territory.

Trump made his surprise remarks while speaking to reporters on Thursday, ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s arrival in the US to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.

“ I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope. I will not allow. It’s not gonna happen,” Trump said.

Asked whether he had discussed his plans to block any Israeli annexation attempts with Netanyahu, Trump was noncommittal.

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna allow it. Whether I spoke to him or not, I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now, OK?” the US president said.

Trump did not offer details of what actions he would take to prevent the possible annexation of the occupied West Bank, and analysts questioned whether the notoriously capricious US leader would change his mind.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mouin Rabbani, an analyst and non-resident fellow at the Qatar-based Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, said Trump’s statement was a “positive” development, but he questioned whether the President would “follow through”.

“One attaches value to Trump’s words at their own peril,” Rabbani said.

“So the question now becomes, is he going to ensure that Israel does not annex the West Bank, and if it does, what will he do about it? Will his mind perhaps be changed by another conversation that he has?”

Trump’s comments potentially place his administration on a collision course with the far-right Israeli government led by Netanyahu, members of which have made the annexation of the occupied West Bank and Gaza a formal political goal.

In July, Israeli lawmakers voted 71-to-13 in favour of a non-binding motion in the Knesset calling for the annexation of the West Bank.

The proposal was initially brought by Israel’s finance minister and far-right political leader, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank and holds a position within Israel’s Ministry of Defence where he oversees the administration of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Smotrich and other far-right members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition have also voiced staunch opposition to efforts to reach a deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza, even threatening to topple the government if an agreement is reached.

In advance of Australia, France, Britain, Canada, Portugal and other countries moving to recognise Palestinian statehood, Smotrich unveiled a plan allowing for the construction of thousands of homes in a controversial illegal settlement that bisects the occupied West Bank.

The massive settlement expansion on occupied land, when completed, “finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise”, he said in August.

“Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground,” he added.

Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank has been ongoing since 1967, stretching deep into Palestinian territory and carving up the landscape thanks to a network of roads and other infrastructure controlled by the Israeli government and military.

The International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal and must be discontinued and the land returned to Palestinians.

Israel has been a cornerstone of US foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government is heavily dependent on financial, military and intelligence support from the US to maintain its ongoing campaign in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and parts of Lebanon and Syria.

Any reversal of US policy could trigger a political crisis in Israel, particularly among the far-right parties who make up Netanyahu’s coalition government.

Referring to Gaza briefly on Thursday, Trump described the overall situation as “really bad, very bad”.

Despite suggesting a peace deal could happen “soon”, Trump offered no details or clarity except to say that “very, really good talks” had been held with leaders of Arab states and Netanyahu.

Earlier this week, Trump met with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss ending Israel’s ongoing military assault on Gaza.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is “irreplaceable” and “indispensable” – not just for Gaza and the occupied West Bank but for the entire region.

That was the message several top diplomats stressed on Thursday at the UN General Assembly as they pleaded for political and financial support for the agency.

“UNRWA is a force for stability in the most unstable region of the world,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a meeting held on the sidelines of the summit.

“UNRWA is vital to any prospects of peace and stability in the region. I urge you to do all you can to support its work.”

The agency’s role has been under the microscope since the outbreak of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

As bombing campaigns and a ground invasion displaced thousands of Palestinians, UNRWA became one of the main distributors of aid in the territory.

But with the United States – once UNRWA’s largest donor – cutting off funding, the UN agency is now facing a major financial crisis with a budget deficit of $200m.

On Thursday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that “UNRWA is collapsing”.

“I do not have to make the case for UNRWA. The starving children of Gaza so painfully make that case,” Safadi said.

“The mothers who are watching their infants fade before their eyes make the case for UNRWA. The 600,000 or more students in Gaza, who have not gone to school for two years, make the case for UNRWA.”

The UN organisation provides healthcare, education, humanitarian aid and cash assistance to millions of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the Middle East.

The agency was founded in 1949 to look after the needs of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who were ethnically cleansed from their towns during the establishment of the state of Israel a year earlier.

Since then, UNRWA has been providing services to displaced Palestinians and their descendants, who remain stateless refugees.

For years, successive Israeli governments have pushed to delegitimise UNRWA, accusing it of distributing anti-Semitic materials and having ties to armed groups.

But critics have argued that efforts to undermine UNRWA are designed to erase the plight of Palestinian refugees who seek to return to their homes in modern-day Israel.

In the wake of the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, pressure on UNRWA increased.

Israel falsely claimed that a significant number of UNRWA employees participated in the attack, despite providing no credible evidence.

That led several countries to suspend funding for the agency. While many subsequently restored the aid to UNRWA, the US has not.

At Thursday’s meeting, which aimed to rally international support for UNRWA, Safadi explained that the agency had been facing a “political assassination campaign” long before October 2023.

He also paid tribute to the sacrifices of UNRWA staff members, hundreds of whom have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began.

“And yet, UNRWA persists. It perseveres,” the Jordanian diplomat said.

“UNRWA staff, who bury their kin, leave and try to give help to others in need in Gaza. That’s why we must save. That’s why we say UNRWA is indispensable. Its role is irreplaceable.”

For his part, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira decried the push to discredit UNRWA.

“Legal restrictions on UNRWA operations and the closure of UNRWA offices and facilities in East Jerusalem are part of a troubling pattern of obstruction and violence carried out by the Israeli government,” he said.

“Equally concerning are attempts to delegitimise UNRWA through disinformation campaigns, defamation, legal harassment [and] initiatives aimed at replacing the agency with other humanitarian actors in Gaza with mechanisms that militarise aid distribution.”

In recent months, Israel has passed laws to ban the agency from the country and prohibit contact with it.

That, in turn, has hampered UNRWA’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by Israel.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced his country will provide 10 million euros ($11.66m) to the agency, bringing the sum that Madrid has donated to UNRWA since the start of the war to about 60 million euros ($70m).

“The needs are immense, and we need to stand by the agency and provide the financial support that it requires to operate,” Albares said.

He added that countries that do not like the UNRWA works should push for the establishment of a Palestinian state that would take on UNRWA’s tasks and take care of its own people.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that, despite the dire situation on the ground in Gaza, the agency remains operational in the territory.

“We still have 12,000 staff,” he said. “They are still – on a daily basis and against all odds – providing health services, doing nutritional screening for the children, ensuring access to clean water, managing shelters, [and] providing – whenever it is possible – some psychosocial support to the children.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that Palestinians are ready for peace if only Israel would allow it. His address, delivered via video, accused the “extremist Israeli government” of crimes against humanity and made the case for his government’s control of Gaza.

US President Donald Trump has proposed a 21-point peace plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.

The plan, shared with Arab and Muslim leaders in New York on Tuesday, reportedly sees Hamas barred from any future role in governing Gaza, potential military involvement from Arab and Muslim countries to guarantee security and a promise from Trump that Israel will not annex the occupied West Bank.

But how can the countries involved deliver on their part in any deal?

And how could President Trump push his plan through, in practice?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Thomas Warrick – Former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy at the US Department of Homeland Security, and currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council

Daoud Kuttab – Journalist and columnist, director of the Community Media Network, and a contributing writer to outlets including Al-Monitor and Foreign Policy

Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka – Editor-in-chief of the Gulf Times and a Qatari journalist and commentator specialising in public diplomacy and communications

Sept. 25 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss a potential arms deal, lifting sanctions against Turkey and Middle East peace while meeting on Thursday.

Trump and Erdogan are meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, which will include discussions regarding Erdogan’s desire to purchase F-16 and F-35 fighter aircraft and Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, they told media before their closed-door meeting.

“We do a lot of trade with Turkey, and we’re going to do some more,” Trump told media.

He said a deal for F-16s is likely and a deal for F-35s and the Patriot missiles could be made.

“I think he’ll be successful,” Trump said of Erdogan’s effort to secure a deal for F-35 fighters.

Turkey also wants to buy 200 commercial aircraft, the BBC reported.

The presidents said they are friends and highly respectful of one another, which should make it easier to reach agreements on the many issues that they will discuss.

They also will discuss matters in Gaza and the Middle East, potential assistance for the Greek Orthodox Church and ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump said he wants Turkey to stop buying Russian oil and is prepared to lift existing sanctions against Turkey for that nation’s past purchase of Russian arms.

The president also said they will discuss tariffs and securing the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Trump said about 20 hostages likely are living and estimated about 38 likely are dead, many of them young boys.

Following his meeting with Erdogan, the president also is scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday.

U.S. and Pakistani officials in July secured a trade agreement to lower tariffs between the two nations.

The U.S. also agreed to help Pakistan develop its oil reserves.

“The dawn of freedom will emerge, and the flag of Palestine will fly high in our skies.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was applauded by the UN General Assembly after he vowed Palestinians will not leave their homeland.

At least 30 Palestinians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes across central and southern Gaza since dawn.

One of Thursday’s strikes on central Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people, according to the territory’s civil defence spokesperson, who spoke to the AFP news agency.

“Eleven people were killed and many are missing or wounded after an Israeli air strike targeted a house … which was sheltering displaced people north of az-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip,” spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said.

Emergency services confirmed several children were among the dead, and bodies were taken to a nearby hospital.

Israel has escalated its offensive against the devastated Palestinian territory in recent days, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

Many are fleeing Gaza City, as Israel intensifies its campaign to capture the Strip’s largest urban centre.

Those who are displaced face uncertainty about shelter locations and must pay inflated prices in new areas for temporary accommodation.

“We have arrived in this remote area with no tents, no facilities. We cannot get water supplies. Kids cannot find anything to eat because we are far from everyone else,” said Ahlam Aqel, a displaced woman from Gaza City.

Ahmed Salama, forcibly displaced from northern Gaza, also expressed concern about his future.

“We are going to central Gaza and we do not know where we are going to stay. The al-Mawasi evacuation zone is overcrowded with displaced people. There is no single space for anyone to move there.”

Gaza has been largely reduced to ruins, and last month a United Nations-backed organisation officially declared famine in parts of the territory.

“We lost our children, our homes and our places,” said Najia Abu Amsha, a Palestinian whose nephew was killed while waiting for aid, on Wednesday. “We became beggars and sick.”

Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,419 people and wounded 167,160, with thousands more believed to be trapped under rubble.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela narrates the story of Amira Mohamed Mousa Hassaan, a Palestinian mother who used to plan weddings in Gaza before Israel’s war destroyed her home, her livelihood and her mental health.

Italy and Spain intervene to ensure Gaza flotilla’s safety in the Mediterranean after drones drop ‘flashbang’ explosive devices.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said his country’s navy will join Italy in sending warships to protect the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has come under drone attack in international waters en route to deliver aid to Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Sanchez said international law must be respected and the citizens of 45 nations participating in the aid mission had every right to sail in the Mediterranean unharmed.

“The government of Spain demands that international law be complied with and that the right of its citizens to navigate the Mediterranean under safe conditions be respected,” he said.

“Tomorrow we will dispatch a naval vessel from Cartagena with all necessary resources in case it is necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation.”

On Wednesday night, activists described a wave of attacks by Israeli drones and other aircraft which targeted vessels in the small fleet in what flotilla organisers described as “an alarmingly dangerous escalation”.

Multiple boats were targeted by the low-flying drones, which dropped flashbang-type explosive devices and other “unidentified objects” on and near boats, passengers on board said. Deliberate radio jamming had also caused “widespread obstruction in communications” among the ships, they added.

As news of the drone attack emerged, the Italian navy said it would dispatch a frigate to assist in any rescue operations involving the flotilla after Defence Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the overnight attacks.

Two lawmakers from Italy’s left-wing opposition are participating in the flotilla, which is now reported to be made up of some 50 civilian boats that are loaded with aid supplies and are hoping to break Israel’s sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also weighed in, noting that “Italian citizens, along with members of parliament and MEPs”, are in the flotilla, which also includes human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, and Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

“To ensure their safety, the foreign ministry had already notified Israeli authorities that any operation entrusted to Israeli forces must be conducted in compliance with international law and the principle of absolute caution,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Minister Tajani has asked the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to gather information and to reiterate its previous request to the Israeli government to guarantee the absolute protection of the personnel on board,” it said.

In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said the repeated attempts by Israel to use such tactics to intimidate flotilla participants would not work, and it issued a call to UN member states attending the UNGA to place the attacks on the agenda for talks.

Thunberg, who is making her second attempt to break Israel’s maritime siege of Gaza, told the Reuters news agency on Monday that drones stalk the flotilla every night.

“This mission is about Gaza, it isn’t about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day,” she said in a video call on board a ship.

At the 80th UNGA, Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye condemned the war in Gaza, calling it a “humanitarian catastrophe” and urging immediate global action. He demanded justice for Palestinians and fairer governance that respects sovereignty worldwide.

At least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory, including 12 at a makeshift shelter, as global leaders demand end to the war at UNGA.

At least 12 Palestinians, among them seven women and two children, have been killed in a strike on a stadium sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, as Israel pressed ahead with its relentless attacks despite calls for a ceasefire from world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

The al-Ahli Stadium, which has been converted into a makeshift refuge for Palestinians fleeing the Israeli onslaught, became the site of another massacre on Wednesday.

“I only had what I had in my hand. I left with nothing,” Najwa, a displaced woman from Gaza City, told Al Jazeera. “We are frightened. Transportation is expensive. We can’t pay to bring our things.”

‘Inflicting terror’

Israel’s assault on Gaza intensified overnight, with at least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory on Wednesday – more than double the number of those killed yesterday.

As the UN warned that Israel’s military is “inflicting terror on the Palestinian population of Gaza City and forcing tens of thousands to flee”, Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir claimed Palestinians were being pushed southward “for their safety”.

But UN investigators have rejected those claims. A commission of inquiry this week concluded that Israel’s actions are aimed at establishing permanent control over Gaza while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel.

Zamir added that “most of Gaza’s population has already left Gaza City” and that the army “will continue a systematic and thorough advance” into the enclave’s largest urban centre.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, at least 65,419 Palestinians have been killed and 167,160 wounded, with thousands more believed to be buried beneath the rubble. Israel launched what campaigners say is a war of vengeance after 1,139 people were killed in Israel in a Hamas-led attack in October 2023. About 200 were taken captive by the Palestinian fighters, out of which more than 40 still remain in Gaza.

Condemnation at the United Nations

At the UN General Assembly in New York, Israel’s war on Gaza has dominated proceedings, drawing condemnation from leaders across the world.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders: “If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot pertain. Those criminals who bully by murdering children are not worthy of the name ‘human being’, and they shall never prove to be trustworthy partners.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa also demanded an immediate ceasefire: “We stand firmly with the people of Gaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggression. We call for an immediate end to the war.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Al Jazeera that quiet talks are taking place on ending the conflict, building on the “New York Declaration” roadmap endorsed by 142 states in July.

“Those of us who are closest to the Israeli position are beginning to understand that we cannot just continue with this endless, senseless war, and that includes the United States,” he said.

Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington was “hopeful … even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough” and confirmed that President Donald Trump’s 21-point peace plan had been circulated among world leaders.

But previous peace proposals have been derailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Hamas leaders gathering in Doha to discuss a peace proposal by Trump.

The Israeli leader unilaterally pulled out of the last ceasefire agreement on March 18 and launched fierce air strikes and imposed a total aid blockade, resulting in famine and starvation deaths. He faces an arrest warrant for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court.

As Israel becomes increasingly isolated, protests have erupted in Tel Aviv. Hundreds gathered at Ben Gurion airport to denounce Netanyahu as he departed for the UN meeting.

Before leaving, the Israeli prime minister once again rejected international calls for a Palestinian state. “The shameful surrender of some leaders to Palestinian terrorism will not bind Israel in any way,” his office said.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says his country knows well the futility of war. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Activists on board the Global Sumud Flotilla said they heard explosions and saw drone attacks late on Tuesday

Organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a Gaza-bound flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists on board carrying aid, reported hearing explosions and seeing multiple drone attacks from their boats situated off Greece from late Tuesday to the early hours of Wednesday.

“Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement, without adding whether there were any casualties.

“We are witnessing these psychological operations firsthand, right now, but we will not be intimidated.”

Suited in a life jacket, Brazilian organiser Tiago Avila updated on his Instagram at midnight on Wednesday that a total of 10 attacks targeted multiple boats with sound bombs and explosive flares. They were also sprayed with suspected chemicals.

US activist Greg Stoker said his boat off the coast of Crete was also a target.

“Our boat was assailed by a quadcopter that dropped a little popper on deck. A couple of other boats experienced that as well. Our VHF [very high frequency] radio was hijacked by adversarial comms, and they started playing Abba,” he said on Instagram.

Israeli authorities have not publicly commented on the reports of drones, explosions or communications interference being used against the flotilla.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a post on X that the sailing boats were “pursuing a violent course of action”, which “highlights the insincerity of the flotilla members and their mission to serve Hamas, rather than the people in Gaza”.

The ministry asked that the flotilla hand the aid on board the boats over to Israel so it can be transferred to Gaza “in a coordinated and peaceful manner” via the nearby Ashkelon Marina, which the flotilla organisers rejected.

“If the flotilla continues to reject Israel’s peaceful proposal, Israel will take the necessary measures to prevent its entry into the combat zone and to stop any violation of a lawful naval blockade, while making every possible effort to ensure the safety of its passengers,” the Israeli statement read.

Avila called this “manipulation from the Zionist regime”.

“We can never believe an occupying force who is committing genocide that they will deliver aid – it’s not in their interests,” he said on his Instagram.

The flotilla, numbering 51 boats, set sail from the western part of the Mediterranean Sea earlier this month with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza and delivering aid to the territory. It had already been targeted in two suspected drone attacks in Tunisia, where its boat had been anchored, before resuming its voyage towards Gaza.

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is among the high-profile participants.

International activists, including aid workers and campaigners, say they organised the flotilla as a peaceful action to draw global attention to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

Israel blocked two earlier attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July.

Israeli forces killed at least 36 Palestinians on Tuesday as they pounded Gaza from the air and ground, as world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York demanded an end to the two-year war.

Residential buildings continue to be flattened as Israel presses ahead with its plan to seize the enclave’s largest city.

Satellite imagery analysed by Al Jazeera shows Israeli army vehicles tightening a stranglehold around Gaza City, surrounding it from several directions. Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows tanks pushing into the Nassr neighbourhood, barely a kilometre from al-Shifa Hospital.

This destruction forms part of a pattern that a UN commission says amounts to genocide.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday warned that Israel’s military actions are “inflicting terror on the Palestinian population of Gaza City and forcing tens of thousands to flee”.

The suffering of Palestinians has drawn the attention of the global leaders, who have used the UNGA platform to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

Addressing the UNGA, US President Donald Trump said that the Gaza war should stop “immediately” but dismissed the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries, calling it a “reward” for Hamas.

The US president met leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan on the sidelines of the UNGA. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the meeting was “very fruitful,” adding that a joint declaration from the meeting would be published.

‘Stuck under the rubble’

Israeli strikes have hit civilians across Gaza. One man was killed and others wounded in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, while another strike hit Palestinians queueing for water in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood, sources told Al Jazeera.

Medical infrastructure is also being dismantled. Israeli shelling destroyed the main medical centre in Gaza City, injuring at least two medical workers, according to the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

The charity said that troops prevented the evacuation of equipment and supplies, even as the facility served the wounded, cancer patients and blood donors. Other clinics in Tal al-Hawa and the Shati refugee camp have also been destroyed or besieged.

Hind Khoudary, reporting for Al Jazeera from az-Zawayda, described the devastation: “The situation continues to deteriorate, especially in the heart of Gaza City, where Israeli forces have been using artillery shelling and quadcopters to push more Palestinians to evacuate to the south and central areas.

“There have been endless appeals from Palestinian families saying their relatives are stuck under the rubble, but no one can reach them.”

No safe zones

Tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Gaza City have ended up in the central and southern areas of the enclave, which are under constant bombardment. The Israeli-designated “safe zone” of al-Mawasi has itself been attacked repeatedly, with health officials warning that it lacks the basic necessities of life, including water, food [and] health services, while disease spreads through overcrowded camps.

Experts say the forced movement is itself part of the machinery of genocide: driving families into displacement under fire and stripping them of shelter, food and dignity.

At Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, doctors report that three Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces near the supposed safe zone further south. Three children died from malnutrition in southern Gaza, according to hospital sources.

In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared that famine was under way in northern Gaza and would spread south. Gaza’s Ministry of Health warns that hospitals are now “entering an extremely dangerous phase” due to fuel shortages.

This collapse of health services and the deliberate obstruction of food and fuel deliveries has led to UN experts accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war.

West Bank under attack

While global attention remains fixed on the destruction in Gaza, events in the occupied West Bank may carry even deeper implications for the future of the conflict.

Israel has threatened to accelerate annexation plans in the West Bank in the wake of recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western countries, including France and the United Kingdom.

On the ground, violence has intensified. Armed settlers shot dead Saeed Murad al-Nasan in the village of al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Israeli forces raided multiple towns around Nablus and ordered the indefinite closure of the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, the only gateway for goods and people between the West Bank and Jordan.

The tightening of settlements, killings and closure of borders are not isolated incidents. Together, they form part of what a UN report on Tuesday described as a systematic effort to secure permanent Israeli control over Gaza and entrench a Jewish majority in the West Bank.

It comes after a UN commission concluded last week that Israel’s policies – forced displacement, denial of return, destruction of infrastructure and the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon – meet the legal definition of genocide.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the UNGA the world must end the “genocide in Gaza,” blasting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US, and Europe as genocidal. He also tied US strikes on Caribbean boats to wider abuses driven by racism and domination.