Israel’s Netanyahu to address UN as pressure mounts over Gaza war
Israel’s Netanyahu to address UN as pressure mounts over Gaza war/node/2616789/middle-east
Israel’s Netanyahu to address UN as pressure mounts over Gaza war
Pro Palestinian activists wave a Palestinian flag as they take part in the "Autonomous Noise Demonstration for Gaza", across from supporters of Israel (R), outside the hotel of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City, US. (AFP)
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Israel’s Netanyahu to address UN as pressure mounts over Gaza war
Netanyahu’s annual speech to the UN General Assembly is always closely watched, often protested, reliably emphatic and sometimes a venue for dramatic allegations, this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader
Updated 11 sec ago
AP
UNITED NATIONS: Facing international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his chance to push back Friday on the international community’s biggest platform.
Netanyahu’s annual speech to the UN General Assembly is always closely watched, often protested, reliably emphatic and sometimes a venue for dramatic allegations. But this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader.
In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and others announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
The European Union is considering tariffs and sanctions on Israel. The assembly this month passed a nonbinding resolution urging Israel to commit to an independent Palestinian nation, which Netanyahu has said is a non-starter.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant accusing Netanyahu of crimes against humanity, which he denies. And the UN’s highest court is weighing South Africa’s allegation that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, which it vehemently refutes.
Against that backdrop, Netanyahu sounded resolute Thursday as he boarded a plane in Israel to head for the UN’s annual meeting of top-level leaders in New York.
“I will tell our truth,” Netanyahu said. “I will condemn those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists and burners of children, want to give them a state in the heart of Israel.” Opposition to Netanyahu’s approach is growing
At a special session of the assembly this week, nation after nation expressed horror at the 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, saw 251 taken hostage and triggered the war. Many of the representatives went on to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and influx of aid.
Israel’s sweeping offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza and displaced 90 percent of its population, with an increasing number now starving.
While more than 150 countries now recognize a Palestinian state, the United States has not, providing Israel with vociferous support. But President Donald Trump pointedly signaled Thursday there are limits, telling reporters in Washington that he wouldn’t let Israel annex the occupied West Bank.
Israel hasn’t announced such a move, but several leading members in Netanyahu’s government have advocated doing so. And officials recently approved a controversial settlement project that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, a move that critics say could doom chances for a Palestinian state. Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet during his visit. Palestinians had their UN say the day before
Netanyahu was preceded Thursday by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the General Assembly via video, since the US denied him a visa. He welcomed the announcements of recognition but said the world needs to do more to make statehood happen.
“The time has come for the international community to do right by the Palestinian people” and help them realize “their legitimate rights to be rid of the occupation and to not remain a hostage to the temperament of Israeli politics,” he said.
Abbas leads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers portions of the West Bank. Hamas won legislative elections in Gaza in 2006 before seizing control from Abbas’ forces the following year.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, then withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their envisioned state, part of a “two-state solution” that the international community has embraced for decades.
Netanyahu opposes it robustly, maintaining that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas.
“This will not happen,” he said at the airport Thursday.
Sudan will be ‘reborn in unity’ through transitional roadmap: PM
Kamil El-Tayeb Idris hails his country as a ‘great civilization’ in UN address
He calls for easing of sanctions, international isolation of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
Updated 10 sec ago
Caspar Webb
NEW YORK: Sudan’s new transitional prime minister has outlined plans for his country to be “reborn in unity” after years of brutal civil war.
Kamil El-Tayeb Idris addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, months after being appointed by his country’s Transitional Sovereignty Council under President Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan. He is Sudan’s first civilian prime minister since the resignation of Abdalla Hamdok in 2022.
In his address, Idris said his country is a “great civilization” that has been victimized by “existential dangers” at the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
“I stand before you from the banks of the Nile, from the land where history runs as deep as the river itself, from where the deserts know the footprints of ancient kingdoms, ancient civilizations, and from where, in this present hour, the dust still carries the scent of war,” he added.
“Sudan has bled. Our villages and cities have fallen silent under the shadow of unprecedented war, unprecedented invasion in the history of mankind. Our children have known fear before they’ve known the meaning of life. And yet, amid the ashes of war, there’s a unique pulse that refuses to die.”
International law is being eroded through “the crimes of genocide, aggression, and the employment of foreign mercenaries to occupy the territories of states and slaughter their peoples,” Idris said.
He condemned the widespread sanctions regime against certain Sudanese entities, including those operated by the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Major powers, including the US and EU, have continued to extend targeted sanctions against entities in the country.
Idris accused the RSF of carrying out systematic killing, torture, looting, rape, and the “savage destruction of all the basic components of life.”
He added: “These actions were deliberate. These actions were part of an integrated project to control Sudan, to plunder its wealth and to change the demographics of its population.”
His technocratic Government of Hope, formed this summer, has proposed a roadmap to bring peace to Sudan and rebuild the country.
But the international community must first “work to stop the flow of lethal weapons” to the RSF, as well as criminalize and classify it as a terrorist group, he said.
Idris also called for the immediate lifting of the siege on the city of El-Fasher, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
He laid out the ambitions of his civilian government: achieving peace as a top priority, establishing a state based on the rule of law, fighting poverty and corruption, activating transitional justice, and laying the groundwork for comprehensive national elections with international observers, among others.
“Our doors will remain open to the UN and regional and international organizations,” he said. “We call on the international community to support the choices of the Sudanese people and their civilian government, and to support African solutions to conflicts.”
Idris also highlighted the “dangerous deterioration and escalation” in the Middle East, including the “catastrophic situation” in Palestine.
He called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“We condemn the blatant Israeli attack on the sovereignty of the sisterly state of Qatar, which threatens international peace and security. Without peace, there’s no viable future,” he added.
Idris concluded his speech by pledging that “our sovereignty and territorial integrity are red lines,” adding: “We’ll never give up. I promise you, we’ll never give up.”
Can Hezbollah still dictate outcomes in Syria, or have battlefield losses curtailed its once formidable influence?
Interim government claims to have arrested a Hezbollah-linked cell, but the group firmly denies any presence inside Syria
Analysts suggest Damascus may be signaling cooperation with Israel, with arrests announced days before Al-Sharaa’s UNGA visit
Updated 26 September 2025
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: Syria’s interim authorities announced earlier this month that they had dismantled a cell linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group, which fought alongside the ousted Bashar Assad regime during the civil war and more recently clashed with Israel, denies any presence in Syria.
If the allegations are true, the Sept. 11 arrests raise a pressing question: Why would Hezbollah, still nursing wounds from its mauling by Israel in 2024, seek to maintain a foothold in Syria now that its old regime allies have been removed from power?
Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that specialized units, working with the general intelligence service, had arrested “a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia” in the Damascus countryside.
The ministry shared photos on X, saying security forces seized “rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, 19 Grad rockets, as well as small arms and large quantities of ammunition” during raids in the towns of Saasaa and Kanaker in western rural Damascus.
Weapons and ammunition allegedly seized by Syria's Internal Security Command during a security operation in the towns of Sa’sa and Kanaker in western rural Damascus. (Syria's Ministry of Interior photo)
In a separate post, the ministry shared images of five men it said were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Hezbollah cell. The suspects, it added, were “referred to the competent authorities to continue the investigations.”
Hezbollah swiftly rejected the accusation.
“We categorically and completely deny what the Syrian Interior Ministry mentioned regarding the affiliation of those arrested in western Damascus countryside to Hezbollah,” the group’s media office said in a statement the same day.
The group reiterated what it called its longstanding position. “Hezbollah has no presence and conducts no activity on Syrian territory, and it is deeply committed to Syria’s stability and the security of its people.”
Fadi Nicholas Nassar, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said Tehran likely views Hezbollah’s continued activity as of a piece with “Iran’s strategy to salvage what remains of its regional security infrastructure after the seismic setbacks it suffered in the Levant with the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of Assad in Syria.
Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group take part in a gathering in Beirut on September 17, 2025, to mark the one year anniversary of the Israeli operation in Lebanon that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. (AFP)
“For now, Tehran is still banking on Hezbollah to disrupt progress in the Levant and exploit spoiling opportunities as they emerge,” he told Arab News.
“In Syria, the Gulf states are investing significant political, economic, and technical assistance to help ensure a functioning state emerges from the ashes of years of war. Iran’s leverage lies in threatening to disrupt that progress and in waiting to twist any shift in the Syrian landscape to its favor.”
Given its weakness and the perhaps more pressing challenges to its existence in Lebanon, the strength of Hezbollah’s appetite for intervening meaningfully in Syria remains up for debate.
Sam Heller, a Beirut-based fellow with the US think tank The Century Foundation, said the group “was hit hard by the fall of the Assad government in Syria, which came alongside Israel’s military escalation targeting the group inside Lebanon.
“The loss of strategic depth and supply lines through Syria is particularly significant now, as Hezbollah seeks to rebuild and reconstitute some of its capabilities,” Heller told Arab News.
“That said, the group has denied interfering in Syria, and it’s unclear whether it would now try to destabilize the country or reestablish itself there.”
Much of the Syrian Interior Ministry’s account of the Sept. 11 arrests remains unverified. Some analysts say the announcement was a message to a far more significant neighbor — Israel — that Damascus is prepared to cooperate on security.
FASTFACTS
• Hezbollah, backed by Iran, played a critical role in preserving Bashar Assad’s regime during Syria’s civil war.
• Syria’s interim government aims to seal US-mediated security and military deals with Israel by late 2025.
They consider the timing of the arrests significant, coming as they did just days before Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s visit to New York for the UN General Assembly.
“We do not know much about the facts and much about this story remains speculative,” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Arab News.
“It would not be surprising if Israel worked with Al-Sharaa’s military to have this ‘Hezbollah-linked cell’ arrested in the days leading up to Syria’s New York appearance.”
Syrians display the national flags as they gather at Umayyad Square in Damascus on September 24, 2025, to watch a broadcast of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa (right) delivering a speech at the United Nations.(REUTERS)
Landis added that the administration of US President Donald Trump is “putting great store in Al-Sharaa’s willingness to work with Israel on security along their mutual border.”
Ali Rizk, a Lebanese security and political analyst, noted that the announcement also coincided with Israel-Syria negotiations.
He told Arab News that “from the start, (Al-Sharaa’s government) has made clear it is not looking for trouble with Israel, and it continues to do so despite the Israeli military operations against Syria.”
Al-Sharaa delivered a historic speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday — the first by a Syrian leader since 1967 — declaring Syria’s return to the international community after decades of dictatorship and civil war.
He said Syria is “reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,” outlined an agenda for reform, reconstruction, and transitional justice, and announced plans for new institutions, elections, and inclusive government.
Al-Sharaa condemned Israeli airstrikes on Syria, called for the complete lifting of remaining sanctions, and pledged accountability for war crimes, stressing Syria’s commitment to balanced diplomacy and dialogue for regional peace.
Since taking power in December 2024, Al-Sharaa has repeatedly stressed that Syria poses no threat to Israel or any other neighbor, describing his strategy in March as one of “patience and wisdom.”
Despite this, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and incursions in Syria, destroying up to 80 percent of its strategic weapons and infrastructure within the first 48 hours of Assad’s overthrow, the BBC reported.
Israeli forces also occupied at least 460 sq. km of Syrian territory, including parts of the UN-monitored buffer zone, in violation of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement.
In response, Washington initiated talks on a security deal. Syria hopes such an agreement will halt Israeli operations and prompt a troop withdrawal, while Israel is pressing for a demilitarized zone extending from southwest Damascus to the border.
On Sept. 17, Al-Sharaa said negotiations could yield results “in the coming days.” Speaking to reporters in Damascus, he said a potential UN-monitored security pact is a “necessity” that must respect Syria’s territorial integrity and airspace.
That same day in London, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer held US-brokered talks on a draft agreement to replace the 1974 deal.
According to Rizk, although the new government in Syria “poses a major threat” to Hezbollah, he does “not see Hezbollah being actively involved in such operations” as those allegedly taking place in the Damascus countryside.
“Post-Assad Syria has clamped down on the routes that were used to send weapons to Hezbollah,” he said, referring to the arc of territory previously used by Iran to channel materiel to its proxies across the region.
Despite this major strategic setback, which Hezbollah is likely keen to remedy, it is unlikely the group is “ready for such activity, especially if you look at how it hasn’t responded to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
“In other words, all indications show that Hezbollah is still rebuilding itself and is not currently in the process of getting involved in military operations — be it against Syria or Israel — unless of course it faces an offensive from either or both sides that could be an existential threat.”
That restraint stems in part from Hezbollah’s losses.
In October 2023, the group began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of its Hamas allies in Gaza. After months of cross-border exchanges, the conflict suddenly escalated in September 2024, with Israeli air attacks killing multiple Hezbollah leaders, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s 2024 campaign crippled Hezbollah’s infrastructure and weakened its ability to mount an effective response, according to media reports.
Mourners surround the flag-draped coffins of Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral along in the southern Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila on March 9, 2025. (AFP)
This defanging came as a huge strategic blow for Iran, which was then left far more exposed to Israeli and US strikes against its nuclear facilities. Hezbollah’s weakening also likely played a role in the rapid implosion of the Assad regime.
Its vulnerability within Lebanon, too, has placed its future in some doubt.
Hezbollah “is under great pressure to cease its military operations, and the Lebanese government has promised to take a tough line on Hezbollah both to Western powers and Israel,” said Landis.
The US-brokered ceasefire deal reached in November 2024 requires Hezbollah to withdraw from the area between the border with Israel and the Litani River, and Israeli troops to withdraw from the same area and to cease all attacks.
Despite this, Israel continues to occupy at least five points inside Lebanese territory.
Moreover, Hezbollah’s disarmament remains a highly contested issue. Lebanon’s government faces domestic and international pressure to place all weapons under state control, while Hezbollah has warned such moves could trigger a new civil war.
Iran’s role complicates the picture. Landis says Tehran “is working overtime to push back against Western efforts to have Hezbollah permanently decommissioned.
“Syria’s border with Israel is the ideal ground for Iran to fish in troubled waters,” he said. “The Druze massacre in July, Israel’s bombing of Syrian military bases, and Al-Sharaa’s efforts to placate Israel make it ripe for disruption.”
Violent clashes between Druze and Bedouin armed groups in Syria’s southern region of Suweida began around July 12. The violence swiftly escalated into widespread fighting that also involved Syrian government forces.
Bedouin and tribal gunmen keep a position during clashes with Druze fighters in Syria's southern city of Sweida, despite an announcement by the Syrian interim president of an "immediate ceasefire" on July 19, 2025. (AFP file photo)
Israel soon intervened and bombed Syrian government forces deployed to Suweida and key targets in Damascus, claiming it sought to protect the Druze community. A ceasefire, thought fragile, was reached on July 19.
Hezbollah sent thousands of fighters to Syria during the civil war to help shore up the Assad regime, playing decisive roles in battles against opposition forces.
The intervention advanced Iran’s strategic aims but cost Hezbollah dearly. Between Sept. 2012 and Feb. 2016, at least 865 of its fighters were killed in Syria, according to the Washington Institute.
Lebanese political adviser Nadim Shehade says Hezbollah “lost many more men fighting in Syria than fighting Israel and all that for what now seems like nothing.
“If the object was to support the Assad regime, which eventually collapsed, then it was a useless and costly operation,” he told Arab News.
“Also, very bad optics that Hezbollah, who presents itself as a resistance, ends up being the occupier displacing people from their homes and conducting starvation sieges.
“I can imagine that this looks like Hezbollah’s Vietnam. A subject they would rather avoid and in which the objectives were immoral and disgraceful.”
NEW YORK: Egypt’s foreign minister on Thursday laid out a “clear,” comprehensive Arab and Muslim vision to end the conflict in Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire followed by coordinated reconstruction and governance efforts.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Badr Abdelatty emphasized the urgent need to halt Israeli military operations and begin rebuilding.
“The first step … is, of course, ending this unjust war. This is extremely important to stop the Israeli aggression,” he told Arab News.
Following a ceasefire, Abdelatty stressed the need “to move ahead with issues related to security arrangements, as well as the governance of Gaza.”
He added: “We in Egypt, in cooperation with Jordan, are providing training to Palestinians to be part of the security force to be deployed in Gaza, in full coordination with the Palestinian Authority.”
On the potential deployment of international forces, Abdelatty said: “We’re open to the idea ... but it should be mandated by the Security Council and, of course, with one objective: to help and support the Palestinian Authority to realize its own independent state.”
As a transitional step, Arab countries are proposing the establishment of a neutral, non-partisan administrative committee to temporarily govern Gaza in coordination with the PA before handing over full control.
“We have an administrative — not political, not affiliated with factions — specific committee to govern Gaza in full coordination with the Palestinian Authority for a specific period, and then to hand over,” Abdelatty said.
He also called for an international conference to be convened immediately after a ceasefire, aimed at implementing an Arab-Islamic recovery and reconstruction plan for Gaza.
“This is extremely important because it was endorsed by the EU, by Japan, by the international community. So all components, all ingredients are there,” he said.
Abdelatty identified the main obstacle to progress as “the lack of political will from the Israeli side. This is what’s extremely important — to end this aggression, this war, as soon as possible, and then to move forward with the other steps.”
He added: “We’re coordinating with Americans, with Qataris, of course, to continue our endeavors in order to reach a deal which will secure the release of all hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and to lift all impediments hindering the flow of humanitarian aid.”
Palestinian leader pledges to work with Trump, others on UN-backed Gaza plan
Abbas rejects Hamas actions, calls for disarmament and governance by Palestinian Authority
The US has put forward 21-point peace plan for Middle East and Gaza
Updated 26 September 2025
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged at the United Nations on Thursday to work with US President Donald Trump, , France and the United Nations on a peace plan for Gaza overwhelmingly backed by the world body.
The 193-member UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed this month a seven-page declaration that aims to advance a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and end the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas militants.
The declaration emerged from an international conference at the UN in July — hosted by and France — on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event and have rejected the international efforts.
Trump offers 21-point peace plan
Separately, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that Trump had presented a 21-point peace plan for the Middle East and Gaza during a meeting with leaders of several Muslim-majority countries on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly.
Abbas addressed the annual gathering of world leaders on Thursday via video after the United States said it would not give him a visa to travel to New York.
“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th — acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages — because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence,” Abbas said.
Abbas rules out Hamas role, but Hamas objects
“We have affirmed — and will continue to affirm — that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that we are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there. Hamas will have no role in governance, and it — along with other factions — must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian National Authority,” he said. “We reiterate that we do not want an armed state.”
The points he raised are included in the declaration endorsed by the General Assembly.
“We declare our readiness to work with President Donald Trump, with , France, the United Nations and all partners to implement the peace plan” backed by the General Assembly, Abbas said.
Palestinians and Hamas fighters attend a funeral procession for 40 militants and civilians killed during the war with Israel, at the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees north of Gaza City on February 28, 2025. (AFP file photo).
Hamas objects
Hamas rejected the remarks by Abbas.
“We consider the President of the Authority’s assertion that Hamas will have no role in governance an infringement on the inherent right of our Palestinian people to decide their own destiny and to choose who governs them, and a submission — unacceptable to us — to external dictates and schemes,” Hamas said in a statement.
The group also said that its weapons “cannot be compromised so long as the occupation remains entrenched on our land and oppressing our people,” adding: “We denounce the President of the Authority’s call to surrender them.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described Abbas’ speech as “nice words” to the West and accused the Palestinian leader of failing to fight terrorism.
Abbas “said that he is ready to receive the Gaza Strip, which he so easily lost to Hamas in 2007. How nice of him,” Saar posted on X.
An October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 65,000 people, also mostly civilians, have since been killed during the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
NEW YORK: The issues between Israel and Palestine are not insurmountable and could be resolved through a negotiated process if there is serious political will, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told Arab News on Thursday.
“Obviously, there will have to be a negotiated process between Palestine and Israel to finalize all of the outstanding issues. We don’t see these issues as insurmountable,” he said.
“If there’s serious will — and we know from the Palestinian Authority that they’re ready and will come to address these issues in a reasonable and pragmatic way — we could have a Palestinian state in relatively short order, one that’s also very much sustainable and viable, and can live in harmony with its neighbors in Israel.”
He was speaking in New York on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, where the Gaza war has dominated world leaders’ discussions.
It was preceded by the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which was co-chaired by and France.
It resulted in the adoption of the New York Declaration, a comprehensive roadmap outlining tangible, timebound steps toward the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The declaration, endorsed by the UNGA with overwhelming support, sets out a multi-dimensional framework addressing political governance, security, humanitarian aid, economic recovery and legal accountability.
It also calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, its reunification with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority and the exclusion of Hamas, the establishment of a temporary UN-led stabilization mission, and a halt to Israeli settlement expansion.
Prince Faisal expressed hope that the two-state solution could be realized soon, describing it as the only viable path to lasting peace and stability in the region.
“Is it in the near future? I certainly hope it is because that’s the only pathway for hope, for all of us in the region to live in security and stability in a way that’s sustainable,” he said.
Prince Faisal noted that the foundations of a future Palestinian state are already established under international law, and that a sustainable peace would require final-status negotiations to move forward in good faith.
“The building blocks are there. It’s clear in the founding UN resolutions that established the State of Israel,” he said.
“There was also a clear understanding of the foundation of the State of Palestine. The 1967 borders are understood by international law to form the borders of the state of Palestine.
On the situation in Gaza, Prince Faisal emphasized the scale of the international response and humanitarian support, but warned that reconstruction must be part of a long-term solution, not another short-term fix.
“I think we’ve seen, just by the significant outpouring of aid just for the emergency relief of Gaza, that there’s a commitment to the rebuilding of Gaza,” he said.
“But what I do want to make clear is that it’s absolutely necessary that when we transition, hopefully soon, to a ceasefire, that this won’t be a temporary state of affairs.
“I think it’s unacceptable that we come to the international community to ask them to come together to rebuild Gaza when it was destroyed by Israel, only for the potential of the situation on the ground to exist where this could all happen again.”
He stressed the need for reconstruction efforts to be sustainable and tied directly to a political resolution.
“I think it’s absolutely critical, hand in hand with the immediate relief of the situation in Gaza, that that reconstruction be ensured to be sustainable, that we do it once and for all.
“And there again comes the need for a final agreement on the status of Palestine, through the Palestinian state.”
Prince Faisal also told reporters in New York that Arab and Muslim countries made clear to US President Donald Trump the dangers of Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
“Some countries made very clear to the president the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank and the risk that poses not just to the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all.
“And I feel confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries.”
