IsraelPalestine

The Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by US President Donald Trump, and which Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has accepted, may not deliver the results Palestinians have long hoped for, analysts tell Al Jazeera.

While people on the ground would be infinitely relieved by a halt in Israel’s vicious bombardment that has killed at least 66,055 people and wounded 168,346 since October 2023, the 20-point Trump plan contains almost nothing else positive for the people of Palestine, analysts say.

“Ending the genocide is tied to this very colonial approach in which Israel – the party that has carried out the genocide –  and the US – who has funded it – are the ones who get to decide the future of the people against whom they’re committing genocide,” Palestinian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu, who was a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team from 2000 to 2005, said

“If you read the agreement itself, there are no guarantees provided to the Palestinians, not a single guarantee,” she added.

“All guarantees are provided to the Israelis.”

Focus on Gaza, but no clarity

Under the plan, fighting in Gaza would cease, captives from Israel who are held in Gaza – alive or dead – would be returned, in return for hundreds of living Palestinians taken by Israel, as well as the remains of hundreds who have died.

Then, Hamas is required to give up control over the Gaza Strip to the “Board of Peace”, an international transitional administration chaired by Trump, with members including Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Hamas members who promise “peaceful coexistence” and disarmament will be granted amnesty. Others “who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries”.

Aid deliveries would resume, Israeli troops would allegedly withdraw after certain conditions are met, though it is unclear who would enforce their withdrawal, and an economic revitalisation plan would be developed by experts who created “thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East”.

Hamas has said it is currently deliberating on the plan.

Trump warned that if it rejects his offer, Israel would have free rein, with full US support, to take any action it sees fit in Gaza. Human rights organisations and scholars have already called Israel’s current actions in Gaza a genocide.

However, this leaves many questions unanswered, Muhannad Seloom, assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera.

For example, while the Palestinian Authority (PA) is mentioned in the plan, there is no immediate role for it until it completes a reform programme composed of various proposals. While Trump listed his 2020 peace plan and the Saudi-French proposal, it’s unclear which reforms he specifically means. The PA has, in the past, been told it should reform its governance, deal with endemic corruption, change the education curriculum, and change the social welfare system that supports Palestinian prisoners’ families.

The PA has reformed the prisoners’ families’ payment programme, but that did not stop Secretary of State Marco Rubio from disregarding the changes and criticising the PA for an old policy, according to the Times of Israel.

What is clear to analysts is that the PA will have to satisfy Israel and the US that it has completed its reform process before it can rule Gaza, and with no clear goals, that could extend indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the plan says aid will be provided by the United Nations and the International Red Crescent, but does not mention whether the notorious Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has led to more than 1,000 Palestinians killed waiting for aid, will be disbanded.

“It seems like a rushed agreement that will be worked on as they go along,” Seloom said.

What state is the state of Palestine in?

On September 21, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom recognised the state of Palestine. More European countries, including France and Portugal, followed suit shortly after.

Global leaders paid tribute to the “two-state solution”, despite analysts claiming that the act of recognition was largely a face-saving exercise.

The international community has often spoken of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and the UN General Assembly voted to back a resolution aimed at reviving a two-state solution on September 12.

However, analysts argue that the term “two-state solution” has little relevance to the reality on the ground and that this plan makes the question more pressing: Even if Israel’s two-year-long genocidal campaign against Gaza is paused, realistically, what shape would the state of Palestine be in?

Often when discussing a Palestinian state, the territories envisioned include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

But those areas are increasingly splintered and isolated by Israeli policy. And illegal Israeli settlements mushroomed in the occupied West Bank, further shrinking any potential future Palestinian state, with international complicity.

This was true before October 2023, but actions like movement restrictions, land grabs, settlement expansions, settler and military violence, and home destructions have all accelerated since.

Before Israel’s war on Gaza, the Gaza Strip was the largest continuous stretch of Palestinian land, but people in Gaza could not go to the occupied West Bank and vice versa, while travel out of Palestine was a Herculean feat due to Israeli impediments.

Now, analysts worry this plan will further divide Gaza from the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. It makes only one brief mention of a potential “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”, a pathway that is contingent on the vague PA reform program being “faithfully carried out”.

In light of the recent recognitions, analysts asked, what is left from which to fashion a Palestinian state?

“This is the million-dollar question,” Buttu said. “Everyone is recognising the state of Palestine as it is being erased, that’s the problem.”

Trump’s plan also leaves the Palestinians reliant on the goodwill of outside actors, including having no recourse if Israel does not withdraw from Gaza, as the plan says.

For his part, Netanyahu has repeatedly sworn to scupper any efforts at establishing a Palestinian state. A day before a UNGA vote that approved a resolution supporting the two-state solution, Netanyahu signed an agreement to move ahead with a settlement project to dissect the occupied West Bank and told supporters, “there will be no Palestinian state”.

Analysts believe the agreement relies on two things that have long been in short supply: Netanyahu’s goodwill and US guarantees that Israel will stick to the agreement.

Netanyahu’s history of undermining the peace process and entrenching the occupation has led analysts to doubt it will actually be implemented.

The agreement is “workable on paper”, according to Seloom,  but “from experience, there are so many details that are unclear.”

Palestinians negotiating an end to their own genocide

Palestinians have gone through this before with Israel.

The Oslo Accords, a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), laid what should have been the foundations for an eventual Palestinian state in the early and mid-’90s.

But little progress has been made in that direction since the second accord was signed in 1995. Instead, analysts say Israel has repeatedly undermined Palestine’s efforts to establish a state. And after years of Israel eroding Palestinians’ control over their own land and two years of the genocidal campaign in Gaza, the current situation appears even worse to analysts.

“This is worse than Oslo,” Buttu, who was a legal adviser at Oslo for the PLO, said. “At least in Oslo, there was a Palestinian voice.

“This is a removal of all Palestinian voices, and we’re back to the era when other people are speaking on our behalf.”

Trump met leaders of Arab and Islamic countries on September 23 to discuss his plan, but no Palestinian leaders.

Still, the US has laid the responsibility for ending Israel’s war on Gaza on the Palestinians themselves. Should Hamas not accept a deal that provides few guarantees to the Palestinian people, Israel’s genocidal war will continue and possibly even intensify.

“There’s a huge problem in that this genocide’s been going on for two years and … Palestinians are being forced to negotiate an end to their own genocide,” Buttu said.

US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan has no guarantees to protect Palestinians but does guarantee a “long-term occupation by foreign troops,” says Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies.

The United States president’s 20-point ceasefire proposal in Gaza includes many ambiguous provisions that could be decisive for the future of Palestine and the region.

When presenting it in the White House on Monday, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump hailed the plan as historic. But figuring out the details for some of its elements will likely be a major challenge to its implementation.

Here are five unresolved issues with the proposal:

How will Gaza be governed?

The proposal envisions a “temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” that would oversee the territory’s affairs. But it does not detail how the panel will be formed or who will select its members.

Moreover, the plan says that Trump and Toni Blair, the United Kingdom’s former prime minister, would lead a “board of peace” that would supervise the governing committee. But the roadmap does not explain the nature of the relationship between this board and the Palestinian committee, or at what level the day-to-day decisions would be made.

Will the Palestinian Authority be involved?

Trump’s plan says that the transitional authorities would take control of Gaza until “such time as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has completed its reform” programme and “can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza”. Yet, it remains unclear who would certify that the PA is ready to take over Gaza or what benchmarks must be met for the PA to handle the governance of the territory.

There are no timetables, just a vague pronouncement.

The proposal’s language additionally treats Gaza as an independent entity, not one that is part of Palestine, that must be unified with the rest of occupied Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, who said he agreed to the proposal, has all but ruled out a return of the PA to Gaza.

“Gaza will be administered neither by Hamas, nor by the Palestinian Authority,” the Israeli prime minister said, standing alongside Trump.

How will the international force be formed?

The plan says that Gaza would be secured by “a temporary International Stabilisation Force”, but where would it come from, and what would its mandate be?

It is not clear what countries are willing to send troops to Gaza, or which ones would be acceptable under the plan.

The proposal also does not spell out the responsibilities and rules of engagement of the would-be peacekeepers.

Would they act as an army, police force, or observer force? Would they be tasked with taking on Hamas? Would they be able to fight Israeli troops to protect Palestinians?

When will Israel withdraw?

The proposal says that Israel would withdraw from Gaza “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarisation”.

Again, the provision does not set a schedule for the Israeli withdrawal or clear standards for how and when it would happen.

Moreover, it says that Israel would hold onto a “security perimeter” in Gaza until the territory “is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat”.

But there is no word on who would ultimately decide when these conditions are met.

Is Palestinian statehood on the cards?

During his news conference on Monday, Trump said that several allies had “foolishly recognised the Palestinian state… but they’re really, I think, doing that because they’re very tired of what’s going on”.

The proposal makes a reference to the prospect of Palestinian statehood behind a thick wall of cloudiness, conditions and qualifiers.

“While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform programme is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people,” it says.

So, Gaza development and PA “reforms” are set as conditions. And even then, discussions for a Palestinian state “may” be in place. It is not guaranteed.

Moreover, the proposal does not recognise the right to Palestinian statehood. Rather, it acknowledges statehood as something that Palestinians are seeking.

Like the other provisions, this one is also shrouded in vagueness and ambiguity.

United States President Donald Trump has proposed a 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza after holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed the proposal.

The new proposal, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas, has been welcomed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs in the occupied West Bank, along with some regional Arab countries.

Hamas says that it is studying the US proposal “in good faith”, while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group says that the plan is a “recipe to blow up the region”.

Below are the reactions from regional and Western countries.

Palestine

The PA said that it welcomes the “sincere and tireless efforts to end the war on Gaza, and affirms its confidence in his ability to find a path to peace”.

“It reiterates its shared commitment to working with the United States, regional countries, and partners to end the war on Gaza through a comprehensive agreement that guarantees the delivery of adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza, the release of hostages and prisoners,” it said in a statement published by the Palestinian afa news agency.

It also called for the “establishment of mechanisms that protect the Palestinian people, ensure respect for the ceasefire and security for both parties, prevent the annexation of land and the displacement of Palestinians, halt unilateral actions that violate international law, release Palestinian tax funds, lead to a full Israeli withdrawal, and unify Palestinian land and institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” it said.

“It also ends the occupation and paves the way for a just peace based on the two-state solution, with an independent and sovereign State of Palestine living side by side with the State of Israel in security, peace, and good neighborliness, in accordance with international law,” the statement added.

The PIJ, a Palestinian armed group fighting alongside Hamas, called Trump’s plan a “recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian people. Through this, Israel is attempting – via the United States – to impose what it could not achieve through war,” the group said in a statement.

“Therefore, we consider the American-Israeli declaration a formula for igniting the region.”

Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye UAE

The foreign ministers of the above countries released a joint statement welcoming Trump’s “sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza, and assert their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace”.

“Along these lines, the ministers welcome the announcement by President Trump regarding his proposal to end the war, rebuild Gaza, prevent the displacement of the Palestinian people and advance a comprehensive peace, as well as his announcement that he will not allow the annexation of the West Bank,” the statement added.

The statement went on to say that the countries are willing to work with the “United States to end the war in Gaza through a comprehensive deal that ensures unrestricted delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinians, the release of hostages, a security mechanism that guarantees the security of all sides, full Israeli withdrawal, rebuilds Gaza and creates a path for a just peace on the basis of the two state solution, under which Gaza is fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state in accordance with international law as key to achieving regional stability and security”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan has hailed Trump for his efforts to broker a ceasefire.

“I commend US President Donald Trump’s efforts and leadership aimed at halting the bloodshed in Gaza and achieving a ceasefire,” Erdogan said in a statement.

He added that Turkiye would continue to support the diplomatic process, and is committed to helping establish “a just and lasting peace acceptable to all parties”.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

Sharif posted on X that he welcomed the plan.

“I am also convinced that durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel would be essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region,” he wrote.

“It is also my firm belief that President Trump is fully prepared to assist in whatever way necessary to make this extremely important and urgent understanding to become a reality.

“I laud President Trump’s leadership and the vital role played by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in bringing an end to this war.”

He added: “I also strongly believe that the implementation of the two state proposal is essential to ensure lasting peace in the region.”

Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz

Gantz said on X: “I laud President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to secure a hostage deal and safeguard Israeli security. Now is the time for initiative.”

“President Trump’s plan must be implemented, our hostages brought home, Israel’s operational freedom maintained, Hamas’ terror regime in Gaza replaced and moderate Arab States instated instead as I proposed a year and a half ago.

“We must not miss out on the opportunity to bring back the hostages, safeguard our security and catalyse a ‘Strategic Flip’ expanding the circles of regional normalisation,” he added.

France

“I expect Israel to engage resolutely on this basis. Hamas has no choice but to immediately release all hostages and follow this plan,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on X.

“These elements must pave the way for in-depth discussions with all relevant partners to build a lasting peace in the region, based on the two-state solution and on the principles endorsed by 142 UN member states, at the initiative of France and Saudi Arabia.”

United Kingdom

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “We call on all sides to come together and to work with the US Administration to finalise this agreement and bring it into reality. Hamas should now agree to the plan and end the misery, by laying down their arms and releasing all remaining hostages.”

The controversial former prime minister, Tony Blair, called the plan “bold and intelligent”, adding that it “can end the war, bring immediate relief to Gaza, the chance of a brighter and better future for its people, whilst ensuring Israel’s absolute and enduring security and the release of all hostages”.

Blair used to be an international envoy for the Middle East and was named by Trump as a member of his “board of peace” for Gaza.

Italy

Italy welcomed the proposal in a statement, saying that it “could mark a turning point, enabling a permanent cessation of hostilities, the immediate release of all hostages, and full and secure humanitarian access for the civilian population”.

Hamas, it added, “now has the opportunity to end it [war] by releasing the hostages, agreeing to have no role in Gaza’s future, and fully disarming”.

Spain

Spain, one of the most vocal critics of Israeli genocide in Gaza, has also welcomed Trump’s peace proposal.

“We must put an end to so much suffering,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a post on X.

“It is time for the violence to cease, for the immediate release of all the hostages to take place, and for humanitarian aid to be provided to the civilian population.

“The two-State solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is the only possible one.”

Palestinians in Gaza said the Trump proposal raises questions around implementation as Israeli attacks continued on Monday.

The move adds pressure on the UK government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which has been slammed over its stance on the Gaza war.

Members of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party have voted to recognise that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a move that increases pressure on the UK government to adopt the same position.

Delegates at Labour’s party conference approved an emergency motion backing the findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, which earlier this month concluded that Israel “has committed genocide”. The vote was strongly supported by trade unions.

The decision contrasts with Labour leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as senior ministers, who have argued that the question of genocide should be determined by international courts rather than politicians.

Israel is facing a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in which it is accused of committing genocide.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy reaffirmed that stance following the conference vote.

“That means that it must be for the ICJ with their judges and judiciary, and for the ICC, to determine the issue of genocide in relation to the convention. It is not for politicians like me to do that,” he said, adding that he believed in “the rules-based order”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supports US President Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war on Gaza. He emphasised his distrust of the Palestinian Authority, which under the plan would have no role in managing the strip until after a period of reform.

A pro-Palestine activist has interrupted the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ speech during the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool to call out the country’s ongoing complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

The protester, later named as Sam P, stood up less than 10 minutes into the finance minister’s speech, holding a large Palestinian flag and asking, “Why is Britain still arming Israel?”

“Labour is complicit in the mass starvation of Palestinians,” he added.

In response to the protest, Reeves told delegates, “We understand your cause and we are recognising a Palestinian state.

“But we are now a party in government, not a party of protest,” Reeves added, receiving a standing ovation from those in the audience.

But in a statement from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which planned the disruption for London for a Free Palestine, the group called on the ruling Labour Party to impose a “full two-way arms embargo on Israel”.

“The end of RAF surveillance flights over Gaza that gather intelligence for Israel … The immediate resignation of Labour Party leadership for lying to the public about Britain’s complicity in enabling Israel’s genocide … [and] an end to Britain’s diplomatic ties with Israel,” the statement read.

In May, PYM released a report that found that the British government had continued to send military exports to Israel despite the UK announcing that it had cut arms export licences to Israel that could be used during the war.

Nihal, an organiser with PYM, said the action was taken because the “horror in Gaza is only growing as Palestinian people are experiencing the most violent bombardment since the beginning of the genocide.

“Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been starved, bombed, and killed while the Labour Party approves weapons licences, shares intelligence, and offers diplomatic cover for these crimes,” they added.

Leila, an organiser with London for a Free Palestine, added that they were “watching the end of the Labour Party”, traditionally once a party of the left which has veered centre-right on many issues.

“Despite the UN Commission of Inquiry declaring Israel is enacting genocide, the Labour government still continues to deny the genocide and offer diplomatic support for Israel’s crimes,” Leila said.

Earlier in September, the UK officially recognised Palestinian statehood in a landmark decision, 108 years after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which supported the establishment of a home for Jews in Palestine, and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine.

While the recognition was welcomed by Palestinian officials, for those suffering Israeli atrocities in Gaza, the announcement had no material effect to ease their daily horrors.

In nearly two years of intense Israeli bombardment, and now a ground invasion of Gaza City, the destroyed enclave’s largest urban centre, at least 66,055 people have been killed and 168,346 wounded, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have protested, often weekly, against Israel’s war in the last two years and feel their voices have not been heard by the government.

There have also been a series of largely peaceful rallies denouncing the UK government’s decision in July to ban the Palestine Action group under the Terrorism Act 2000, which have been met by a heavy-handed police response and mass arrests.

Israeli tanks are advancing in Tal al-Hawa, Sabra and other neighbourhoods of Gaza City in their ground invasion.

Hamas has issued what it calls a “warning” that the lives of two captives held in Gaza City are in danger as Israeli tanks push deeper inside several neighbourhoods of the besieged urban centre, where tens of thousands of Palestinians are trapped by Israel’s ground invasion and bombardment.

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, said on Sunday that contact has been lost with fighters holding Omri Miran and Matan Angrest after “brutal military operations and violent targeting in the Sabra and Tal al-Hawa neighbourhoods during the last 48 hours”.

“The lives of the two captives are in real danger, and the occupation forces must immediately withdraw to the south of Road 8 and halt aerial sorties for 24 hours starting from 18:00 this evening (15:00 GMT), until an attempt is made to extract the two prisoners,” it said.

Hamas released a “farewell picture” of captives in Gaza this month in another attempt to stop the Israeli army as it systematically destroys Gaza City and displaces hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians once again.

Israel said 48 captives remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive. But the country has refused to stop the war despite being increasingly accused of committing genocide and as Israeli families call and protest for a comprehensive deal to end the war and bring back all captives.

Their pleas have not been heeded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, and relatives and supporters are blaming the government for their prolonged captivity.

The political wing of Hamas said in a statement earlier on Sunday that the group has not received any new ceasefire or peace proposals from mediators Qatar and Egypt, even as United States President Donald Trump continues to predict an imminent ceasefire, which he has done several times in recent weeks.

The group confirmed that negotiations remain halted after Israel tried to assassinate top Hamas leaders in Doha on September 9 as they gathered to review a new ceasefire proposal presented by Trump.

But Hamas said it is “ready to study any proposal from the brother mediators with positivity and responsibility, in a manner that preserves the national rights of our people”.

Far-right Israeli ministers said on Sunday that they oppose a 21-point plan presented by Trump and any other deal that would put an end to the war before eliminating Hamas.

In a post on X, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “Mr. Prime Minister, you have no mandate to end the war without a decisive defeat of Hamas.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would “never agree to a Palestinian state – even if it is difficult, even if it has a price, and even if it takes time”.

More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in October 2023, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

Dozens more Palestinians were killed in air strikes and shelling or while seeking aid on Sunday, including a child in a bombardment of the Sabra neighbourhood. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city reported an infant died due to malnutrition and inadequate medical treatment.

Israeli tanks are also inching closer towards the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which used to be the largest medical complex in Gaza but now lies mostly in ruins after several previous Israeli sieges.

Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of the hospital, said on Sunday that his team is committed to keeping the facility running as long as possible as patients and displaced people are sheltering there.

More than 100,000 people rallied in Berlin, protesting against German support for Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators marched from Berlin’s City Hall to the Grosser Stern on Saturday, following a call from a broad coalition of some 50 groups, including pro-Palestinian organisations, Medico International, Amnesty International, and the opposition Left Party, for a large demonstration.

Organisers of the All Eyes on Gaza – Stop the Genocide rally demanded “an end to German complicity” in Israel’s genocidal war in the Palestinian enclave.

They also called for “an end to all military cooperation with Israel. This includes the import, export, and transit of weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment.”

“The actions of the Israeli government have long been described as genocide by experts and international organisations, and the International Court of Justice is investigating them as such. While it is clear that the Israeli military is committing mass atrocities in Gaza, the German government continues to deny the systematic violence,” organisers said in a statement.

The crowd chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “Viva Palestine”, holding up posters reading “Stop the genocide in Gaza”, “Never again for all”, and “Freedom for Palestine”. Many protesters also waved Palestinian flags.

They called for an immediate halt to German arms exports to Israel, for humanitarian aid access to Gaza, and for European Union sanctions against Israel.

A new survey released on Tuesday showed that 62 percent of German voters believe Israeli actions in Gaza constitute genocide, putting mounting pressure on the centre-right government to reassess its stance towards Israel.

The representative poll, conducted by YouGov, indicated that this sentiment crosses political lines, with 60 percent of voters from Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc viewing Israel’s military campaign as genocide against Palestinians. Among voters of the coalition partner Social Democratic Party (SPD), the figure was higher at 71 percent.

While Chancellor Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul have recently sharpened their criticism of Israel’s military offensive and blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, they have so far avoided using the term genocide, referring instead to the “disproportionate” use of force by the Israeli military. Nor have they decided to recognise the State of Palestine, as many other nations have in recent days, including France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

For Abeer Hassan, looking after her autistic son, Abdallah, has been perilous amid Israeli bombardment, displacement.

Amid relentless forced Palestinian displacement in Gaza under intense Israeli bombardment, taking care of children with special needs becomes even more perilous.

Abeer Hassan, looking after her autistic son, Abdallah, in Deir el-Balah, says the constant Israeli explosions terrify him.

“As the people started fleeing the area, we were also urged to leave,” Hassan told Al Jazeera.

“Abdallah used to watch cars filled with displaced families fleeing. He would come back to the tent very tense and nervous, and using sign language,” she added.

Hassan explained that they first reached a displaced camp called Ameera, which was full and had no space for their tent.

“Later, they told us to seek a place near Salah al-Din Street, despite the danger. My daughters and I were crying and Abdallah was getting tense and started making weird sounds. The scorching heat is too much and we don’t know where to go,” she said.

Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, the army has issued several forced evacuation orders for Palestinians living in the besieged enclave, often telling them to move to the southern al-Mawasi area, which has been designated a so-called “safe zone”.

However, al-Mawasi has also come under repeated attack by Israel, as has the exodus of Palestinians fleeing Gaza City to an unknown fate further south.

For Abdallah, the never-ending orders and sounds of bombardments mean he spends most of the time roaming the streets and has developed a new habit of pulling his hair. His family cut his hair short to stop him tearing at it.

“I began giving him prescribed sleeping pills again, to stop him from going outside during the heat. There is nothing else I can do to help him. I discovered that my mobile phone was broken two days before we were displaced; my phone was the only means to keep him calm with mobile games and videos,” Hassan explained.

“We were all under immense pressure … young and old. At one point, I asked God to take our lives together so Abdallah wouldn’t be alone. Not everything he needs is available here,” she pleaded.

In the nearly two years of intense attacks, Israeli raids have killed at least 66,005 people and wounded 168,162, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday.

Italian race organiser says there is high possibility of race disruption due to participation of Israeli team.

The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team has been excluded from Italy’s upcoming Giro dell’Emilia competition due to concerns over public safety, race organisers said.

The decision announced on Saturday comes after the recent Vuelta a Espana cycling race suffered several disruptions by pro-Palestinian protesters who took to the streets of the Spanish capital, Madrid, to block the participation of Israel-Premier Tech, forcing the cancellation of the race’s final stage.

Calls for Israel to be excluded from global sporting events, festivals and music competitions have been growing since the country’s invasion of Gaza, which has killed almost 66,000 Palestinians, in an operation the United Nations has described as a “genocide”.

“It is with regret that, following recent events and given the characteristics of the final circuit, for the safety of all athletes, technical staff, and spectators, I have had to forgo the participation of the Team this year,” said Adriano Amici, organiser of the one-day Giro dell’Emilia, which will take place on October 4, finishing in Bologna.

“We had to make this decision for reasons of public security,” Amici told the Reuters news agency.

“There’s too much danger for both the Israel Tech riders and others. The race’s final circuit is run five times so the possibility of the race being disrupted is very high,” he said.

Police in the Italian city of Milan clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday, during a nationwide strike in Italy called by trade unions to protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The Giro dell’Emilia race concludes with a climb to the Madonna di San Luca sanctuary, not far from the historic centre of Bologna, which has a large student population and a long history of left-wing politics.

Bologna’s local government, which is controlled by the centre-left Democratic Party, called for Israel-Premier Tech’s exclusion from the race, noting the Israeli government’s guilt in carrying out “serious crimes against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip”.

Roberta Li Calzi, the city’s sport councillor, welcomed the decision to exclude the Israeli team, which is owned by Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams.

Adams, the president of the Israel region of the World Jewish Congress, is referred to by that organisation as “committed to promoting Israel’s global image”.

“Given what is happening in Gaza it would have been hypocritical to consider the presence of a team linked to this [Israeli] government as insignificant,” Calzi said in a statement.

Pressure is mounting on Israel on all fronts over its brutal war and continued ignoring of international calls to end the slaughter of Palestinians.

European football’s governing body, UEFA, is expected to soon vote on whether to suspend Israel’s football team, whose men’s side is in the middle of attempting to qualify for next year’s World Cup, from all competitions under its jurisdiction. The 20-member UEFA ruling committee is expected to secure a majority to exclude Israel from games if that vote is called.

Members of the Eurovision Song Contest are also due to vote on excluding Israel from the 2026 competition due to its military onslaught in Gaza.

Putrajaya, Malaysia – When Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad turned 100 earlier this year, he marked his birthday by following a lifelong routine of discipline: he ate little, worked a lot, and did not succumb to the lure of rest.

“The main thing is that I work all the time. I don’t rest myself,” Mahathir told Al Jazeera.

“I am always using my mind and body. Keep your mind and body active, then you live longer,” he said.

From a desk at his office in Putrajaya city, south of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, he spent his centenary like most days: penning his thoughts on the Malaysian economy, the country’s political situation and unfolding world events, particularly the situation in Gaza.

Sitting down with Al Jazeera for an interview after recovering from a spell of exhaustion around the time of his birthday, Mahathir predicted that Israel’s ruthlessness against the Palestinian population of Gaza would be etched into world history.

Israel’s killing of nearly 66,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority women and children, will be remembered for generations, possibly for “centuries”, Mahathir said.

“Gaza is terrible. They killed pregnant mothers… babies just born, young people, boys and girls, men and women, the sick and the poor… How can this be forgotten?” he asked.

“It will not be forgotten for maybe centuries,” Mahathir said.

Describing the war in Gaza as a genocide that parallelled the killing of Muslims during the war in Bosnia in the early 1990s and the Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II, Mahathir said he was confounded that the people of Israel, who had experienced genocide, could, in turn, perpetrate a genocide.

“I thought people who suffered like that would not want to visit it on other people,” he said. Victims of a genocide should “not want to wish their fate to befall other people”.

However, in the case of Israel, he was wrong, he said.

At the height of his power in the 1980s and 1990s, Mahathir earned a reputation on the world stage as an outspoken voice for the Global South, and a vocal critic of Western imperialism and its contemporary exploitation of developing countries through flows of financial capital.

A staunch and lifelong supporter of the Palestinian cause, Mahathir was also roundly criticised for making “anti-Semitic” statements alongside his tirades against the West, particularly the United States.

But, as he told Al Jazeera, he had sympathised deeply with the Jewish people when the horrors of the Nazis became known after World War II.

Israelis, he now says, “did not learn anything from their experience”.

“They want the same thing that happened to them, they want to do it to the Arabs,” he said.

Now, the only “reasonable” way to address the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is to implement a two-state solution, he added. But Mahathir said that such a solution – which received a major boost when Palestinian statehood was recently recognised by Australia, Belgium, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, among other countries – is still a very long way off, and he would not live to see it.

“In my lifetime, no. Too short a time,” he said.

China: ‘Number one country in the world’

A survivor of three heart attacks who pulled off a stunning political comeback in Malaysian public life when he was over 90 years of age, Mahathir held power for a combined total of 24 years, and earned himself what is likely to be the unassailable title as Malaysia’s longest-serving leader.

When he was born on July 10, 1925, in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah, the king of England was George V, the grandfather of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and Malaysia was a British colony known as Malaya.

He entered politics in the 1960s and became prime minister from 1981 to 2003 before stepping down, for the first time.

He then made an astonishing return to power in 2018, when he led a coalition of opposition parties to beat the long-governing Barisan Nasional party to be re-elected prime minister at the sprightly age of 92, becoming the world’s oldest leader as a result.

But he stepped down under a cloud for the last time in 2020 after losing support due to political machinations from inside his own political party, Bersatu.

A medical doctor by training, even Mahathir’s critics acknowledged that he laid the economic foundations that transformed Malaysia’s agricultural economy of the 1960s into the modern industrialised state of today, with the iconic twin Petronas Towers crowning the skyline of its thriving modern capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

Despite having lived past the age when most politicians would have retreated from the spotlight, Mahathir at 100 remains as vocal, sharp and acerbic as ever.

He also had some surprising memories of a bygone China and predictions about the future of the United States to share.

Among his prized recollections are his impressions of visiting China in the 1970s, when it was “very poor” and there were few cars on the streets.

Being Malaysia’s deputy prime minister at the time, authorities in Beijing rolled out the red carpet and their “Red Flag” model car to chauffeur him around, he said.

“It was a very big Chinese car which China produced themselves. They called it The Red Flag,” Mahathir said, recounting how that vehicle was among the first to be independently produced by the Chinese.

Fast forward to today, China’s economy has come a very long way, and so too has its thriving car industry, which is giving Western-produced cars a run for their money, particularly with electric vehicles.

China’s surpassing of the US to become the “number one country in the world” is inevitable, he said, due to its huge domestic market and hard-working population.

“It will take China 10 years to catch up with America. After that, China will overtake America,” Mahathir said.

“China by itself is bigger than Europe and America. It’s a huge market. It is quite rich. And Chinese people are very smart in business,” he said, recounting how, as a youth, he witnessed new Chinese migrants to Malaysia take on “very heavy work” to earn a living. Within a generation or two, those families had managed to improve their lives, give their children a good education, and some of their grandchildren had gone on to become quite wealthy.

‘America will not be able to compete with the rest of the world’

Contrasting contemporary China with the US under the presidency of Donald Trump, Mahathir said that Trump’s “tariff war” was “very damaging”, and his plans to bring production back to the US would increase costs and pave the way for China’s further rise.

“[Trump] wants companies to shift their factories to America. The wages are very high there. The work attitude there will be very different from Chinese workers, who can stay for hours and do the work,” he said.

“American workers cannot do that. Anything produced in America in the future, if they do move the factories there, will be costly,” he added.

“America will not be able to compete with the rest of the world.”

Importantly, Trump does not have the time to follow through on his promised economic vision, as it would take a minimum of three to eight years to move manufacturing facilities to the US, he said.

“And Trump will not be president any more after three years,” he added.

Despite being 100 years old , Mahathir walks unaided, exercises daily, goes to work every day and receives visitors.

He uses social media and travels outside of Malaysia whenever he receives invitations to be a guest speaker.

The key to longevity, Mahathir said, is to stay physically and mentally active and not overeat .

“Don’t eat so much,” he told Al Jazeera.

“My mother’s best advice to me was, ‘When the food tastes nice, stop eating.’”

US tech giant Microsoft says it has stopped the Israeli military from accessing its cloud computing and AI technology.

The move follows an investigation that found that Israeli forces had been using Microsoft’s powerful Azure services for mass surveillance and attacks in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

But has Microsoft’s decision come too late? And what can be done to stop Israel from simply finding a replacement from another powerful software supplier?

Presenter: Neave Barker

Guests:

Rob Pegoraro – Technology journalist and analyst

Taghreed El-Khodary – Palestinian journalist and analyst

Kenneth Roth – Former executive director of Human Rights Watch and author of Righting Wrongs: My Life in Human Rights

Family home hit in war-battered Gaza City, with children among the dead and wounded as Israeli bombardment continues.

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.

A wave of recognition from Western countries – led by France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada – means that 157 countries now recognise a Palestinian state.

The latest countries to recognise Palestine include strong allies of Israel who have tried to frame the recognition as an attempt to keep alive the idea of a two-state solution, which envisions a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution,” Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, said in a statement. “That means a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state. At the moment, we have neither.”

While diplomatically the recognition of Palestine is a major step forward, on a practical level, it does little to bring the possibility of statehood any closer.

Israel has only increased settlement construction in the occupied West Bank throughout its war on Gaza and responded to the recognition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly this week by doubling down on its commitment to never allow a Palestinian state.

So does recognition bring Palestine any closer to statehood, and what does a territory need to be considered a state? Let’s take a closer look.

What does it take to be a state?

There is no single definition of a state, but international law widely cites the Montevideo Convention of 1933. The UN has previously referenced the Montevideo Convention when discussing Palestinian statehood.

The convention does not require a state to be recognised by others. Instead, it specifies that a territory must have defined borders, a government, the capacity to enter into relations with other states and a permanent population.

So could Palestine be a state?

While many of the states that recognise Palestine are vague about its exact borders, most envisage lines close to those before Israel’s 1967 war, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel has occupied Palestinian territory since 1967 despite that being illegal under international law.

The Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians in the 1990s were supposed to start the process leading to the formation of a Palestinian state and created the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The PA engages in foreign relations, maintaining diplomatic ties with numerous countries and operating various diplomatic missions, including embassies, representative offices and delegations

And in terms of its permanent population, millions of Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and have done so for generations despite decades of Israeli policies.

However, the degree to which Israel allows the PA to operate as an independent state is disputed. While the PA exercises some governmental functions, international bodies have questioned its full capacity to govern.

For example, the UN Secretariat in 2011 and the International Criminal Court in 2020 noted that despite meeting all the other conditions for statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention, Israel’s control over the PA’s borders, movement within the territory – where Israel maintains a heavy security presence – resources and security operations undermine the PA’s ability to govern.

So, why isn’t Palestine a state?

Because international law can go only so far.

Since establishing Kfar Etzion, its first settlement in the West Bank after the 1967 war, Israel has created more than 160 settlements across the Palestinian territory and occupied East Jerusalem, housing about 700,000 Israelis. These settlements are illegal under international law.

During its war on Gaza, settlement construction has surged. Israel’s latest plan to build about 3,400 new homes would bisect the West Bank while linking thousands of existing settlements by roads for Israeli use only, making any future Palestinian state almost impossible.

In addition, Israel has constructed industrial developments, such as the Barkan Industrial Park, in occupied territory.

Israeli and international firms are encouraged to locate themselves in the industrial parks, receiving government subsidies, low rents, favourable tax rates and access to cheap Palestinian labour in return for supporting the settlements’ economies.

Among them, according to Amnesty International, are international companies such as Airbnb, Expedia and JCB.

How likely is Israel to give up its settlements?

Very unlikely.

Many settlers and their supporters in the Israeli government see their presence in Palestinian territory as ordained by Jewish scriptures.

According to them, in addition to settling Gaza, they hold a “divine mandate” to reclaim the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria as they refer to it, and even to potentially expand Israel’s frontiers to form “Greater Israel”, a territory that includes parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Settlers themselves are being increasingly aggressive in seizing Palestinian land, facing little pushback from the Israeli state, and their agenda is openly supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Many settler leaders are in government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

But what about international law?

Israel, with the absolute backing of the United States, has shown little regard for international law from the first ejection of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 to the present.

In fact, rather than recognise a Palestinian state as others have done, the Israeli Knesset voted in July in defiance of international law and approved a motion to annex the West Bank, which constitutes much of one.

On Sunday in response to the moves by the UK, France, Australia and other countries, Netanyahu was clear: “It will not happen. There will be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan [River],” he pledged.

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.

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 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.