Palestinians’ UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and the West Bank in 6 months

A general view shows voting results during a UN General Assembly meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on October 12, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 10 September 2024
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Palestinians’ UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and the West Bank in 6 months

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press on Monday that International Court of Justice rulings “should be accepted and should be implemented”
  • In the sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories & was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force

UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinians have circulated a draft UN resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months.
The proposed General Assembly resolution, which was obtained by The Associated Press, follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In the sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force. It also said Israeli settlement building must stop.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon denounced the resolution and described it as a “reward for terrorism.” He called for the resolution to be rejected.
“Let it be clear: Nothing will stop Israel or deter it from its mission to bring home the hostages and eliminate Hamas,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press on Monday that International Court of Justice rulings “should be accepted and should be implemented.” As for the General Assembly resolution, he said, it’s up to the 193 UN member nations to make a decision.
The draft UN resolution comes as Israel’s military assault on Gaza enters the 11th month after being triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs.
The proposal, if adopted by the 193-member General Assembly, would not be legally binding but the extent of its support would reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council.
A council diplomat said the Palestinians are aiming for a vote before world leaders of the General Assembly start their annual high-level meetings on Sept. 22. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions on the draft resolution have been private.
The proposal demands that Israel comply with international law, including by immediately withdrawing all military forces from the Palestinian territories.
The draft resolution not only demands an end to all new settlement activity but the evacuation of all settlers and the dismantling of the separation barrier Israel constructed in the West Bank.
And it calls for all Palestinians displaced during Israel’s occupation to be allowed “to return to their original place of residence” and that Israel make reparations “for the damage caused” to all people in the territories.
Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed, the future of which should be decided in negotiations, while it has moved people there in settlements to solidify its hold. It has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that isn’t internationally recognized. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintained a blockade of the territory after Hamas took power in 2007.
Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,900 Palestinians have been killed there. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Meanwhile, settler violence in West Bank has reached new highs, and Israeli military raids on West Bank cities and towns have grown more devastating, killing 692 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis within the territory also have increased.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council last month that he planned to introduce a General Assembly resolution in September to enshrine the ICJ ruling. “We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. “The time for waiting is over.”
The proposed resolution includes other demands, including for Israel to be held accountable for any violations of international law, sanctions against those responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories, and for countries to halt arms exports to Israel if they’re suspected of being used in the territories.

 


Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

Updated 7 sec ago
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Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says

GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.

Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Updated 05 November 2024
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.


Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

  • Airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 30, Palestinian medics and media say
  • Israeli military says it ‘eliminated terrorists’ in latest operations

CAIRO: Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since Monday night, Palestinian media and medics said on Tuesday, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the enclave.
An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since Oct. 5, and killed at least 20 people late on Monday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.
The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight on Monday, medics said.
Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow enclave.
The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had “eliminated terrorists” in the central Gaza Strip and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where “terrorist infrastructure sites” had been eliminated, it said.
Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.
Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.
More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.


Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

Updated 05 November 2024
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Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

PORT SUDAN: Ten civilians were killed in the central Sudanese state of Al-Jazira, pro-democracy activists said on Tuesday, in an attack they blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The Madani Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across the country, said the RSF carried out the killings on Monday night in the village of Barborab, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of the state capital Wad Madani.


Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Updated 05 November 2024
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Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

  • Washington told Israel on Oct. 13 it had 30 days to take steps to address humanitarian crisis in Gaza
  • Israel on Monday announced cancelling agreement with UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

WASHINGTON: Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the US to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met,” Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were “not good enough” but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
“What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law,” he said.
Washington, Israel’s main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for US policy and law.
Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.