Israel / Palestine

The General Assembly adopted two key resolutions on Wednesday night, demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages. It also reaffirmed its full support for the embattled UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). 

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) renewed calls on Tuesday for Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories in the Middle East and announced an international summit for June 2025 to discuss the potential for a "two-state solution" in the region. In a resolution passed by a 157-8 vote, the Assembly expressed "unwavering support, in accordance with international law, for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine."

The President of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday emphasised that peace and security in Middle East cannot be achieved through force or occupation but only through dialogue, mutual recognition and a commitment to a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution based on international law.

President Joe Biden has said the US will make another push with regional powers for a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from power. … Hamas said it hoped for a similar deal in Gaza but continues to reject Israel's demands, which it perceives as surrender.

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister, as well as Hamas's military commander.

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The war in Gaza represents “the biggest stress test” the UN has faced in its work to forge greater peace and a two-State solution between Israelis and Palestinians, according to the senior envoy who has been at the forefront of these efforts since 2021. More than a year into the conflict, “we are at the point where diplomacy has failed in the situation where the geopolitics is superbly difficult,” Tor Wennesland said in an exclusive interview with UN News earlier this week.

Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including pursuing a deliberate policy of forcibly displacing people and denying them the right to return home, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Thursday. The report also labelled the likely permanent dispossession of Gazans in areas cleared by Israel to serve as buffer zones and security corridors as “ethnic cleansing”. 

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed that the bloc suspend a political dialogue with Israel, citing possible human rights violations in the war in Gaza, according to four diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for "real and extended pauses" in the Gaza war to allow aid delivery to residents. … He said Israel has taken steps to address the humanitarian problem, and it has also "accomplished the goals that it set for itself," he said. "This should be a time to end the war."