Israel / Palestine

Two bills before the Israeli parliament could put a halt to the lifesaving operations of UN Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, which has been indispensable and irreplaceable “more than ever” over the past year of war in Gaza, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday. 

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the United Nations secretary general had not condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel in strong enough terms. For his part, Mr. Guterres said he condemned the attack.

World leaders called for restraint on Tuesday after Iran launched its biggest missile attack yet against arch-foe Israel, while the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas hailed the attack, calling it "revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs". 

The U.S., France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days. The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council on Wednesday “to work in lock-step” to end the escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants across the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.

The General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine within the next twelve months by an overwhelming margin on Wednesday. The vote came in the middle of its 10th emergency special session considering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Israel acknowledged Tuesday that its forces had likely shot dead an American citizen near a demonstration last week in the occupied West Bank, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for “fundamental changes” in the way the Israel Defense Forces operates there, “including changes to their rules of engagement.”

The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that the United Nations has offered to help monitor any eventual cease-fire to halt the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, but that it is “unrealistic” to think that the world agency would directly administer the territory or provide a peacekeeping force.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has told the BBC that justice must be seen to be done after seeking an arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister and defence minister. 

The Hamas militant group Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of working to prevent a cease-fire deal for the war in Gaza, a day after Netanyahu said Israel will combine military pressure with a firm stance on its demands. A Hamas statement said talks about a new cease-fire proposal are unnecessary since the group agreed to a July proposal put forward by the United States.