Frankly Speaking: What hope is there for Gaza’s children?

1 Could UNICEF avert a humanitarian catastrophe?
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Updated 01 April 2024
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Frankly Speaking: What hope is there for Gaza’s children?

  • UNICEF spokesperson says averting famine in Gaza hinges on immediate ceasefire, unrestricted aid access
  • Says Gaza is “potentially the most dangerous place in the world” for aid workers and recipients

DUBAI: Is there any hope for the children of Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, restrictions on aid access, and a looming famine in the north of the enclave?

According to UN Children’s Fund spokesperson James Elder, who recently toured the length of Gaza, only an immediate ceasefire can turn the humanitarian situation around.

Appearing on the Arab News current affairs show “Frankly Speaking” via video link from Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, Elder said that opening multiple entry points and delivering sufficient aid could help save the most vulnerable, including the one in three children under the age of two in the north of Gaza who are suffering from acute malnutrition.




Speaking to “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen from Rafah, James Elder lauded the irreplaceable role played in the humanitarian response by UNRWA and highlighted Israel’s unmet obligations under international law to allow sufficient aid to enter Gaza. (AN photo)

“The ability to scale out, to get aid across an area, is what UNICEF does,” Elder told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.

“We have the world’s largest humanitarian supply hub in Denmark. We airlift, we ship, we do everything. We have warehouses here in the region as well. So, multiple warehouses … consistently ready to bring in that aid.”

However, until Israel lifts its restrictions on how much aid is permitted to enter the embattled enclave, enabling UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies to deliver much-needed relief, many fear the extreme food insecurity already endured by Palestinians will escalate into a full-blown famine.

In the wide-ranging interview, Elder described the irreplaceable role played in the humanitarian response by the cash-strapped UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, and highlighted Israel’s unmet obligations under international law to allow sufficient aid to enter Gaza.




Speaking to “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen from Rafah, James Elder lauded the irreplaceable role played in the humanitarian response by UNRWA and highlighted Israel’s unmet obligations under international law to allow sufficient aid to enter Gaza. (AN photo)

Elder also spoke about the “annihilation” of Gazan cities and the threats posed to UN workers and aid recipients amid the fighting, which had made the Palestinian territory “potentially the most dangerous place on the planet.”

A UN-backed report released in March warned that unless the hostilities are halted and unrestricted aid is allowed to flow into the Gaza Strip, famine could occur by the end of May. The report said 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million-strong population is experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger and food insecurity.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague warned on Thursday that “famine is setting in” as a result of Israel’s continued restrictions on the flow of aid.

In a unanimous ruling, the UN’s highest court ordered Israel to take “all the necessary and effective action” to ensure basic food supplies reach the Palestinian people without delay.

And while saving people in Gaza from starvation is achievable, it will take longer to address “things like disease, the devastation to the health system, to hospitals, to water systems, to sewerage,” said Elder.

Since Israel launched its Gaza operation in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, the enclave has become a graveyard for at least 13,000 children, according to UN figures.

Acute malnutrition now affects 31 percent of children under the age of two in the northern governorates, while at least 23 children have already died of starvation and dehydration.

Creating these conditions could amount to a war crime, the UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, told the BBC on Thursday, adding that there was a “plausible” case that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

“International humanitarian law is very clear on proportionalities and on what warring factions can do,” said Elder. “We have seen so many breaches in this war, and for children it seems to make no difference right now. Children don’t understand whether international law is being abided by or not.

“Right now, all they are doing is facing the severity of something that no child ever, ever should have to endure.”

In the initial months of the conflict, the bulk of aid distribution and relief work was carried out by UNRWA, which has supported Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon since 1949.




UN workers prepare humanitarian food aid at a UNRWA warehouse/distribution center in Rafah for distribution to Palestinian refugees amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The warehouse was partially hit by an Israeli strike on March 13, 2024. (AFP)

However, in January, more than a dozen countries suspended funding for UNRWA after Israel claimed that 12 of the UN agency’s staff had participated in the October 7 attack, while 450 others were “military operatives in terror groups.”

Although an internal investigation and a separate independent investigation have been launched to examine the allegations, the bulk of UNRWA’s funding is still yet to be restored, bringing its operations in Gaza to the brink of collapse.

Elder said UNICEF and other aid agencies are in no position to assume UNRWA’s responsibilities if it goes under.

“UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “UNRWA has got thousands and thousands of very brave workers, of teachers, of doctors, of pharmacists, of nurses, of you name it.

“UNICEF has deep specialties in child protection and nutrition and so forth, but in terms of that full manpower across the Gaza Strip, the people of Gaza need UNRWA.”

He added: “Fifty percent of food aid getting to those civilians in the north was delivered by UNRWA. That has now been blocked. That’s fast-tracking catastrophe.”




Israeli demonstrators gather by the border fence with Egypt at the Nitzana border crossing in southern Israel on February 18, 2024, as they attempt to block humanitarian aid trucks from entering into Israel on their way to the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Gaza has become an extremely dangerous place for aid agencies to operate.

“People have been killed receiving aid, aid workers — more aid workers, more of my United Nations colleagues killed in this war than in any time since the advent of the United Nations. This is the reality that people are dealing with,” said Elder.

“Now the UN does work in very dangerous places. That’s what we do. Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, here in Gaza. But we need to be very clear. International humanitarian law is unequivocal. Israel has a legal obligation to facilitate aid, not just getting in, but then to ensure it is safely distributed to those most in need.”

During his journey along the length of the Gaza Strip, Elder was appalled by the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe. While traveling through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, he saw “hundreds of trucks blocked there with life-saving aid on the wrong side of the border.”

“We are not getting nearly enough aid in,” he added.

Later, during his visit to northern Gaza, he saw “people hanging on to life, children and families who urgently need food.” And yet, “there are crossings there that could be opened, old crossings where you would have aid within 10 or 15 minutes.”

With road access into Gaza limited by Israeli forces, aid agencies have been examining options for a maritime corridor. In mid-March, the Open Arms set sail from Cyprus towing 200 tonnes of flour, protein, and rice bound for Gaza.




The Open Arms, a rescue vessel owned by a Spanish NGO, departs with humanitarian aid for Gaza from Larnaca, Cyprus, on March 30, 2024. (REUTERS)

“Any aid is useful aid, but the ship had the equivalent of around 12 trucks,” said Elder. “There’s 50 times 12 trucks on the other side of the border.”

Another aid access workaround pursued by the US, Jordan and Egypt is airdrops, parachuting aid into Gaza.

However, airdrops are usually used “when people are massively cut off from humanitarian assistance — a flood or a natural disaster,” said Elder. “Here, they’re not cut off. There’s a road network. Road is the efficient, effective way. Roads are what will turn around this humanitarian catastrophe with a ceasefire.”




Jordan, along with the US, German and other European countries had been delivering food aid to Gaza by parachutes, but the scale of starvation in the Israeli-besieged enclave is barely enough, according to humanitarian agencies. (AFP)

Echoing criticism of Israel’s limits on the flow of aid, Elder said: “We need to be very clear. International humanitarian law is unequivocal. Israel has a legal obligation to facilitate aid, not just getting in, but then to ensure it is safely distributed to those most in need.”

On March 25, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ends in less than a fortnight.

Elder said the resolution must be “substantive and not symbolic” because a ceasefire “allows the United Nations to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid and we can turn this imminent famine around.”




A United Nations vehicle drives by as Palestinian girls share a food ration in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2024. (AFP)

A ceasefire, said Elder, would also allow Israel to bring home its citizens who have been held hostage in Gaza since October 7. “There are children here somewhere underground or whatever horrendous torment they are enduring,” he said. “End the torment, get hostages home.”

He added: “A ceasefire means families — a mother and a child can go to bed with absolute certainty that they will wake up. They haven’t had that for many months.”
In November and December last year, Elder said he visited Al-Nasr Hospital in Khan Younis, where the “incredible” health workers were “doing 24-36-hour shifts in a war zone.”

“They were doing the work that they knew they love to do, and they were born to do as some had said, but they were terrified because their families were outside.”




Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2024. (REUTERS)

Returning to Khan Younis in recent days, Elder said: “I went through it now and it’s just annihilated, street after street, rubble everywhere. I have not seen that level of devastation, which in my mind segued to here, to Rafah, and why we cannot see that happen here.”

Now, it is as though Khan Younis and Gaza City no longer exist. “Just cracked rubble and steel as far as you can see and stunned looking people, because home after home has been destroyed,” he said.

Rafah, meanwhile, “is a city of tents. It’s a city of children. This is where families were meant to go to stay safe. And there’s a desperation here, but there is a solidarity. People do what they can for each other.”

He added: “I’ve been across the Gaza Strip. In the north is a level of suffering that I can’t say defies words, but it is getting to a point where, well, we’re seeing children die of malnutrition, of dehydration.”




A mourner carries the body of a Palestinian child killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2024. (REUTERS)

“You see parents in tears over a child’s cot, a child who is paper thin. This is a mother who’s done everything she can to protect her child from these relentless … bombardments. And now she’s trying to protect her child from starvation.

“These mothers and fathers are learning that the real decisions about the safety of their children are being made by people elsewhere. So, there is a level of stress and anxiety across the Gaza Strip.”

Elder said the situation in Gaza “speaks to the mental trauma here of more than a million children.

“As a child psychologist said to me, we are in uncharted territory here when it comes to the mental health of girls and boys in Gaza.”
 

 


Israeli Likud party ministers urge Netanyahu to annex West Bank

Updated 03 July 2025
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Israeli Likud party ministers urge Netanyahu to annex West Bank

  • The petition was signed by 15 cabinet ministers and Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament

Cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party called on Wednesday for Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank before the Knesset recesses at the end of the month.
They issued a petition ahead of Netanyahu’s meeting next week with US President Donald Trump, where discussions are expected to center on a potential 60-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
The petition was signed by 15 cabinet ministers and Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
There was no immediate response from the prime minister’s office. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, long a confidant of Netanyahu, did not sign the petition. He has been in Washington since Monday for talks on Iran and Gaza.
“We ministers and members of Knesset call for applying Israeli sovereignty and law immediately on Judea and Samaria,” they wrote, using the biblical names for the West Bank captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Their petition cited Israel’s recent achievements against both Iran and Iran’s allies and the opportunity afforded by the strategic partnership with the US and support of Trump.
It said the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel demonstrated that the concept of Jewish settlement blocs alongside the establishment of a Palestinian state poses an existential threat to Israel.
“The task must be completed, the existential threat removed from within, and another massacre in the heart of the country must be prevented,” the petition stated.
Most countries regard Jewish settlements in the West Bank, many of which cut off Palestinian communities from one another, as a violation of international law.
With each advance of Israeli settlements and roads, the West Bank becomes more fractured, further undermining prospects for a contiguous land on which Palestinians could build a sovereign state long envisaged in Middle East peacemaking.
Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of Trump, who has proposed Palestinians leave Gaza, a suggestion widely condemned across the Middle East and beyond.


Syria state media says talk of peace deal with Israel ‘premature’

Updated 02 July 2025
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Syria state media says talk of peace deal with Israel ‘premature’

  • “Statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature,” state TV reported
  • “It is not possible to talk of the possibility of negotiations over a new agreement”

DAMASCUS: Syrian state media reported Wednesday that statements on signing a peace deal with Israel were “premature,” days after Israel said it was interested in striking a normalization agreement with Damascus.

“Statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature,” state TV reported an unidentified official source as saying.

“It is not possible to talk of the possibility of negotiations over a new agreement unless the occupation fully adheres the 1974 disengagement agreement and withdraws from the areas it has penetrated,” it added.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country had an “interest in adding countries, Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization while safeguarding Israel’s essential and security interests.”

The statement came amid major shifts in the region’s power dynamics, including the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December and the weakening of his ally Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after its latest war with Israel.

Syria’s new Islamist authorities have confirmed they held indirect talks with Israel to reduce tensions.

Since Assad’s ouster, Israel has repeatedly bombed targets inside Syria while Israeli troops have entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone along the 1974 armistice line on the Golan Heights and carried out incursions deeper into southern Syria.

Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has repeatedly said Damascus does not seek conflict with its neighbors, asking the international community to pressure Israel into stopping its attacks.

Syria has said that the goal of ongoing negotiations is the reimplementation of the 1974 armistice between the two countries.

Saar insisted that the Golan Heights, much of which Israel seized in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized by the United Nations, “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future peace agreement.

Control of the strategic plateau has long been a source of tension between Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war.


Gulf diplomacy with Iran helped limit conflict with Israel, Middle East experts say

Updated 02 July 2025
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Gulf diplomacy with Iran helped limit conflict with Israel, Middle East experts say

  • Pursuit of pragmatic relations between GCC nations and Tehran prevented fighting from escalating ‘out of hand’
  • Trump-brokered peace agreement offers ‘opportunities’ for further steps toward regional security, according to academics specializing on the region

LONDON: Improved relations between Arab Gulf countries and Iran helped contain the recent conflict with Israel, Middle East experts said on Wednesday during a discussion about regional developments.

Israel attacked Iran on June 13 with airstrikes targeting its nuclear program and military sites. Iran retaliated during the 12-day conflict by launching salvos of missiles toward Israeli cities.

Many feared the war might escalate, dragging in other countries in the region, especially after the US joined the airstrikes on June 22 by dropping bombs on key Iranian nuclear sites.

While Iran did retaliate against the US by attacking Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar on June 23, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire two days later, and Iran has refrained from attacking other US targets in the region.

When the war started, Gulf countries condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran and called for deescalation. There has been a shift in the region in recent years away from an adversarial relationship with Iran to one of more pragmatic relations, cemented by a Chinese-brokered agreement between Riyadh and Tehran in March 2023.

“That reintegration of Iran into the Gulf security complex has played a really prominent role in preventing this from getting out of hand,” Simon Mabon, a professor of international politics and director of the SEPAD peace and conflict research center at Lancaster University, said during a discussion about developments in the Middle East this year.

This approach showed Gulf states building a regional security architecture from the inside that is “inclusive,” he added. It is viewed as a more “pragmatic and more sustainable way of building a longer-term form of prosperity,” and the approach speaks to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reforms program and the economic pragmatism of Gulf states, he added during the online event organized by SEPAD and the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

Eyad Alrefai, a lecturer in political science at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah and a SEPAD fellow, said the efforts to forge new relationships between Gulf countries and Iran meant that the nations had been able to “manage their differences diplomatically,” and this included economic issues.

There had been less Iranian interference in the domestic affairs of GCC countries, and also in the wider Arab region, he added. This included Iran’s decision not to get involved in Syria when President Bashar Assad, an Iranian ally, was removed from power by opposition fighters in December last year.

The West’s position on the Iran-Israel conflict, largely seen to be one of support of Israel, was symptomatic of the fact that those countries continue to adopt a “tactical” outlook toward the region rather than a strategic one, Alrefai said. He urged those countries to engage with the Middle East as a socioeconomic, sustainable project moving forward.

If the truce between Iran and Israel continues to hold, many see the end of the brief war as a potential opportunity for more stability in the region.

Lina Khatib, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said there was “a real possibility for an integrated economic and security and political partnership” to emerge. She said a weakened Iran also opens up the chance to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the terms of a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed during a devastating military campaign launched by Israeli authorities in response to the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and dozens taken hostage.

Khatib said a shift in domestic Israeli politics, with pressure from Trump, could reopen a pathway toward a long-term agreement between Israel and Palestine. This would also lead to further normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries, she added.

“This will in turn encourage the flow of funding to places like Lebanon and Syria for reconstruction, which could only be good news for these countries economically, but also will help with stability,” Khatib said.

“Having a stable region is very much in the interest of countries in the Gulf as well.”

Clive Jones, a professor of regional security and director of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University, said Israel had scored a huge win against Iran but ran the risk of failing to convert it into a diplomatic opportunity.

“The challenge for Israel now is how you actually cash in those military gains for diplomatic advantage,” he said.

“I think Israel is actually missing a huge opportunity, for example by not engaging more proactively with the new regime in Syria.”

He said Israel’s reliance on its military superiority would not be enough to secure long-term security.


Why latest Gaza ceasefire proposal may offer a pause — but not a path to peace

Updated 02 July 2025
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Why latest Gaza ceasefire proposal may offer a pause — but not a path to peace

  • As aid remains blocked and famine looms, a fragile US-backed truce faces skepticism from Hamas, Israel, and rights groups
  • With starvation deepening and no sign of peace, experts warn Israel’s aim is to force Palestinians out of Gaza — by design

LONDON: When global attention shifted to the conflict between Israel and Iran, the urgency around ending the war in Gaza appeared to dissipate. But for Palestinian civilians living under fire and the families of hostages still awaiting news, the nightmare remained very much alive.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Israel had accepted the key conditions required for a 60-day ceasefire, although he did not detail the specific terms of the agreement.

He said Qatar and Egypt, which have played significant roles in the negotiations, would present the final proposal to Hamas. Trump urged Hamas to accept the deal, warning that if they reject it, the situation “will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.”

Trump’s announcement came ahead of a scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week, where Trump indicated he would take a “very firm” stance.

He expressed optimism that a ceasefire agreement could be finalized as soon as next week.

Aid agencies say the blockade has caused acute shortages of food. (AFP)

Despite these statements, the fighting has escalated. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has announced renewed operations in northern Gaza, the aim being the elimination of “terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”

On June 29, Israeli forces ordered mass evacuations from northern Gaza and Jabalia to Sheikh Radwan, warning residents to move south ahead of intensified strikes.

The US-backed proposal to end the conflict, originally presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff on May 31, called for a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 living Israeli hostages, while venturing into the thorny issue of Hamas disarmament.

But the plan had drawn criticism, with Hamas rejecting the proposal, saying it was “biased in favor of Israel” and failed to address the Palestinian enclave’s dire humanitarian crisis.

Instead, Hamas called for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, and the transfer of authority for the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian-led body.

Israel too had issued several non-negotiable demands, raising doubts about the proposal’s potential to deliver lasting peace — until Trump’s announcement on Wednesday.

Although it has signaled openness to a ceasefire if Hamas releases the remaining hostages, Israel has insisted on the disarmament or exile of the Hamas leadership. Some Israeli ministers have even threatened to resign over any deal that does not secure Hamas’s defeat.

Hamas called for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, and the transfer of authority for the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian-led body. (AFP)

“I don’t see any indication that we’re moving toward a ceasefire,” Khaled Elgindy, visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, told Arab News.

“It seems fairly clear that Netanyahu does not want to stop bombing and starving Gaza.

“He and his defense minister, Israel Katz, have said very clearly that they’re not going to allow any humanitarian aid, which is the most urgent priority right now, even more than a ceasefire.”

Since early March 2025, Israel has largely blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. These restrictions have halted the flow of essential supplies — including food, medicine, and fuel — dramatically worsening an already dire situation.

Although Israel resumed limited aid shipments in mid-May, UN agencies and humanitarian groups have widely condemned the effort as inadequate to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents.

International rights groups have denounced the aid restrictions as violations of international law, accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and pushing Gaza toward a man-made catastrophe — claims the Israeli government denies.

Aid agencies say the blockade has caused acute shortages of food, clean water, fuel, and medical supplies, driving the population to the brink of famine.

Despite growing international pressure, Israeli officials insist on retaining control over aid distribution, arguing that the measures are necessary to prevent supplies from falling into the hands of Hamas.

Since October 2023, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 55,700 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities. (AP)

In May, this stance led to the launch of a controversial new mechanism: the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF. Backed by the US and Israel but rejected by the UN, the GHF has come under fire for failing to meet humanitarian standards and for relying on Israeli military oversight.

The GHF replaces the longstanding UN-led aid system, which Israel claims allowed Hamas to divert supplies — an allegation firmly denied by the UN and most humanitarian organizations.

Operating through four military-controlled distribution hubs in southern Gaza, the GHF forces civilians to travel long distances to collect prepackaged food, water, and hygiene kits — often under the watch of Israeli troops.

Critics, including the UN and major aid groups, say the GHF politicizes aid and enables Israel to weaponize relief by tightly regulating access.

Deadly incidents have occurred near distribution sites, with video footage showing scenes that observers have compared to concentration camps.

One such incident took place on June 15, when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians gathered near an aid center in Rafah. At least eight were killed and dozens wounded, according to witnesses and Gaza health officials.

A tractor protest organised by the Kibbutz Movement and the Hostages Families (AFP)

Survivors described the scene as a trap, with no safe way to evacuate the wounded amid the chaos.

The UN and international rights groups condemned the violence. The Council on American-Islamic Relations labeled the aid centers “human slaughterhouses” due to repeated fatal shootings of civilians seeking food and water.

The international community has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza since the Israeli military operation began on Oct. 7, 2023, in retaliation for the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Those appeals, however, have largely fallen on deaf ears.

In early June, the US vetoed yet another UN Security Council resolution calling for an unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Dorothy Shea, US ambassador to the UN, defended the veto, saying the resolution would “undermine diplomatic efforts” to reach a ceasefire. She also criticized the UN for not having designated Hamas a terrorist organization.

The international community has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza since the Israeli military operation began on Oct. 7, 2023. (AFP)

Hamas is described as such by the US, UK, and EU.

“We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” she said.

Still, pressure continues to mount. On June 18, the World Food Programme emphasized the urgent need for another ceasefire to allow safe and consistent delivery of critical food supplies to families in Gaza.

On June 12, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and unrestricted humanitarian access. The resolution, introduced by Spain, Slovenia, and others, was backed by 149 countries and condemned Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war.

A day later, the 10 elected members of the UN Security Council (E10) urged compliance with international law and emphasized the urgent need for humanitarian relief.

“A ceasefire will take a lot of diplomatic effort,” Elgindy said. “But at a minimum, there should be international pressure to force Israel to stop preventing food and medicine from entering Gaza. Even that is not really happening.”

The ceasefire proposal under discussion — supported by the US, Egypt, and Qatar — calls for a phased release of 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 bodies, in exchange for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners.

INNUMBER

• 5,833+ Killed in Gaza since hostilities resumed in March.

• 9 Israeli evacuation orders issued May 22 to June 12 across Gaza.

• 962 Israeli ceasefire violations in six weeks after Jan. 2025 agreement.

(Sources: WHO & Palestine’s representative to the UN)

Hostages would be freed over the first week of the truce, while Hamas would halt hostilities and permit aid to resume through the previously suspended UN-led system.

Israel signed off on the plan in May and is awaiting Hamas’s formal response. But Hamas insists on guarantees of a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the restoration of full aid access.

Hamas also opposes Israel’s demand for the group’s full disarmament and the immediate release of all hostages before any ceasefire takes effect.

Witkoff has condemned Hamas’s conditions as “unacceptable,” urging the group to accept the deal as a basis for proximity talks.

Israel, meanwhile, maintains that any ceasefire must include the dismantling of Hamas as a military and governing entity and the return of all hostages.

It was triggered by the unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which saw some 1,200 people killed, the majority of them civilians, and around 250 taken hostage, many of them non-Israeli nationals.

Israel’s retaliatory assault has displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s population, decimated infrastructure, and brought the health system to the brink of collapse.

Israeli officials, including Netanyahu and members of his far-right coalition, have openly discussed annexing parts of Gaza. (AFP)

Elgindy described the situation as “the worst humanitarian crisis since this horror began in October 2023.”

“It’s never been worse,” he said. “So, my sense, based on everything that we’re seeing and what the Israelis are saying, is they are moving ahead with their plan to forcibly displace the population through starvation and bombing and destruction.

“They’ve told us that this is their endgame, and we should believe them.”

Indeed, Israel’s strategy appears aimed at concentrating Gaza’s population in a small southern zone while seizing control of roughly 75 percent of the territory. The plan, approved by Israel’s security cabinet and supported by the US, has prompted alarm from human rights groups.

Organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the effort as ethnic cleansing and a possible war crime, citing forced displacement and collective punishment.

With supplies blocked and civilians trapped in an ever-shrinking space, Gaza’s 2.2 million residents face escalating desperation and a vanishing hope of survival.

Israeli officials, including Netanyahu and members of his far-right coalition, have openly discussed annexing parts of Gaza and “conquering” the territory. Some have called for its depopulation, drawing global condemnation and renewed calls to end arms sales and military aid to Israel.

According to Elgindy, Israeli leaders claim to have informal agreements with some countries to accept Palestinians from Gaza — although several regional powers have flatly rejected such plans.

“Jordan and Egypt and Saudi Arabia and others have completely rejected the idea,” he said.

“But of course, since the most powerful nation in the world, the US, is endorsing the idea of expelling the population, the Israelis feel that it’s not only likely, but probable. And where they go is not of concern to Israel.

Since early March 2025, Israel has largely blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. (AFP)

“The only thing that this Israeli leadership cares about is that they leave. And that is why they’re continuing to use starvation as a weapon while targeting aid workers, ambulances, and civilian infrastructure.

“So, all we know is that they want them to leave, but they don’t care where they go or how they go. I think they’re calling it voluntary relocation. But of course, when you bomb and starve the population, nothing is voluntary.

“There are even reports that they’re willing to pay $5,000 per family for a job and a house. They’re willing to spend billions on expelling the population rather than on rebuilding what they’ve destroyed.”

That possibility of forced mass displacement raises urgent questions about the future of international law.

“I think this is a test right now for the international community,” Elgindy said.

“Does international law mean anything at all? And if Israel is allowed to carry out its plan of ethnic cleansing of Gaza after it’s destroyed it, after broadcasting its intentions for many months — if this is allowed to go ahead, then we know for certain that international law is a complete farce and means nothing and will never mean anything going forward.

“It will be impossible to try and revive the idea of a rules-based order after Gaza.”

 


Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control

Updated 02 July 2025
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Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control

  • Lebanese officials drafting response to US disarmament proposal
  • PM Nawaf Salam says country cannot stay on the sidelines of historic regional shifts

BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday said that his government is intensifying its efforts to confine weapons solely to state institutions and to extend its authority across all areas of the country as part of a broader push to advance the implementation of a ceasefire.

Salam’s comments come as Lebanese officials are drafting a response to Washington’s proposal to disarm Hezbollah, which was presented by the US envoy to Syria and Lebanon, Tom Barrack, during a visit to Beirut last month.

The proposal centers on achieving full disarmament by the end of the year, strengthening Lebanese-Syrian relations, implementing financial reforms, and establishing a UN-supervised mechanism to secure the release of prisoners held by Israel during the recent war on Hezbollah.

Barrack is scheduled to visit Beirut on Monday to discuss the response.

During his address to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Salam confirmed control over Rafik Hariri International Airport and its access roads as part of security measures aimed at combating smuggling and enhancing public safety.

However, he added that Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory is integral to the country’s stability, emphasizing Lebanon’s efforts to intensify political and diplomatic pressure to enforce Resolution 1701, secure the return of displaced citizens to their villages, and advance the reconstruction of areas devastated by last year’s war with Israel.

To date, a $250 million loan has been secured from the World Bank to fund the immediate reconstruction phase, pending parliamentary approval, said Salam.

In parallel, Lebanon is partnering with UN agencies to implement over $350 million worth of projects in the south — spanning education, health, shelter, and food security — as part of a four-year support plan.

Salam said that Lebanon will also host an international reconstruction conference in the coming months to mobilize support under the leadership of the government.

“Reconstruction is not solely a matter of engineering or finance, but a comprehensive political, economic, and social process,” he said.

“The cumulative crises facing Lebanon leave no room for delay or denial. True salvation requires meaningful reform that builds a modern state, one that restores the trust of its citizens and earns the confidence of the international community.”

Salam highlighted the role of regional countries in supporting Lebanon’s reconstruction, describing President Joseph Aoun’s visits to Arab states as “concrete steps toward revitalizing Lebanon’s relations with its Arab neighbors and reasserting its role within the framework of regional cooperation.”

He added: “The region is undergoing a historic transformation, and Lebanon cannot afford to stand on the sidelines. There can be no progress outside the Arab fold, and no future without a partnership founded on mutual respect and shared interests.”

The prime minister also noted the direct coordination with Syria to reinforce border security, curb smuggling activities, and ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees.

“We look forward to meaningful contributions that will help restore what has been lost and strengthen the country’s path to recovery.”

A tripartite committee composed of representatives from the offices of Salam, Aoun, and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri recently held a series of meetings to draft a preliminary framework to serve as the executive response to the US disarmament proposal.

A political source familiar with the committee’s discussions told Arab News: “The atmosphere is constructive, and a preliminary draft of Lebanon’s response will be finalized by Monday, ahead of US envoy Barrack’s arrival in Beirut.”

The source said that Berri is tasked with communicating Hezbollah’s stance on the US demands.

“It is unlikely that Lebanon’s response will be any less stubborn than Israel’s. Lebanon cannot be expected to make all the compromises, while Israel ignores every ceasefire agreement,” the source said.

This includes Israel’s failure to withdraw from the five key Lebanese points it occupies, its daily attacks on southern and northern Lebanon, and refusal to release prisoners.

According to sources, Hezbollah refuses to be bound by any timeframe to disarm.

“It views Lebanon’s current treatment as a form of imposed guardianship, especially while Israel continues to pose an existential threat. The US is required to provide written guarantees of Israel’s full commitment to the agreement,” sources said.

Hezbollah confirmed that it has handed over the area south of the Litani River to the Lebanese Army, which then seized hundreds of weapons depots.

However, the situation regarding weapons north of the river is subject to different conditions, which the military group said is being handled through internal dialogue that began with Aoun several months ago.

Mohieddine Al-Shahimi, a professor of international law, told Arab News that the US proposal to Lebanon is nothing new.

“US envoy Barrack is simply laying out a roadmap for Lebanon to implement all the international resolutions it has previously failed to carry out, starting with the Taif accord and extending to the ceasefire agreement.”

The agreement, brokered by the US and France, aims to implement Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, exclusive control of weapons by the state, deployment of the Lebanese Army south of the Litani River, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty over its territory.

“The agreement is being implemented gradually and depends on the state’s efforts, placing full responsibility on its shoulders. Only after this will Israel fulfill its obligations under the agreement,” Al-Shahimi said.

Al-Shahimi believes that Hezbollah is deliberately stalling.

“The party is waiting to see how American-Iranian relations unfold, while ignoring that Israel has grown more aggressive, and that Syria is very different from what it once was. Hezbollah is creating false hopes of guarantees. This strategy puts Lebanon dangerously close to the edge and plays directly into Iran’s hands.”

The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened by its war with Israel last year, with more than 70 percent of its military arsenal destroyed and many of its front-line fighters killed.

“Hezbollah knows that the situation has changed both locally and internationally, and its old tactics no longer work,” said Al-Shahimi.

“Iran, in turn, is draining Hezbollah, as it created the weapons to defend its own interests, but it does not see itself as responsible for defending Hezbollah. Perhaps Hezbollah, through its deliberate denial, is trying to gain internal leverage.”

Hezbollah has accused Israel of violating the Nov. 27 truce 3,799 times, including 1,916 airspace breaches and 112 maritime violations, resulting in 159 deaths and 433 injuries.