Category: 2. World

WASHINGTON: Pakistan will join France and Saudi Arabia at a high-level United Nations conference today (Monday) on the peaceful settlement of the Palestine question and the implementation of the two-state solution, amid renewed international efforts to end the Gaza war.

Speaking to Arab News ahead of the conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said: “Pakistan has a clear foreign policy for decades that the two-state solution is the only answer to the Palestine problem.”

He welcomed the initiative by France and Saudi Arabia, describing it as “very appreciable”, and expressed hope that the summit would lead to concrete results.

“I hope that serious efforts are made during this event, first, to secure an immediate ceasefire, and second, to ensure the unhindered flow of food, humanitarian aid and medical assistance — alongside progress toward the recognition of Palestine as an independent state,” the deputy premier said.

France, S. Arabia-hosted UN conference on two-state solution kicks off today in New York

The three-day conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is being held at the UN headquarters in New York and has drawn participation from 123 countries and international organisations. It aims to chart a concrete path towards the two-state solution through proposals developed by eight working groups, which have held extensive consultations with UN member states and civil society groups.

The conference is receiving global attention following French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement this week that France will formally recognise the State of Palestine—making it the first G7 country to do so.

While Macron said the recognition will be formalised at the UN General Assembly in September, Washington strongly condemned France’s decision. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X, called the move a “reckless decision,” claiming it “only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace”.

The US, under President Donald Trump, has announced that it will not attend the conference. Israel is also boycotting the event.

A diplomatic cable, reportedly shared with multiple capitals and seen by Reuters in Paris and Washington, revealed that the US had warned governments against participating in the conference, arguing that it could derail ongoing efforts to secure the release of Israeli prisoners and end the war in Gaza.

Despite the US objections, several European countries have signalled their intent to follow France’s lead. In May, fellow EU members Norway, Ireland, and Spain announced that they had begun the process of recognising a Palestinian state.

Currently, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states either recognise or have indicated plans to recognise Palestine. However, several influential Western countries—including the US, the UK, and Germany — have yet to do so.

Pakistan’s participation in the conference aligns with its longstanding support for the two-state solution. Islamabad had earlier voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution last year calling for an international summit on the issue in June 2025. That summit could not take place last month.

As president of the UN Security Council for July 2025, Pakistan chaired the July 24 open debate on the Palestine issue. “Pakistan’s position is absolutely clear — we are firmly on the right side of history and remain steadfast in our support,” Dar stated.

In the interview, Dar reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to diplomacy: “The solution to conflicts does not lie in kinetic actions — wars and violence. The real path forward is through dialogue and diplomacy, and we are firm believers in this approach.”

France has said the goal of the New York meeting is to move beyond rhetoric and offer “concrete measures” to revive the stalled peace process. Organisers hope the momentum from this conference will lead to broader international consensus in favour of Palestinian statehood.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2025

• Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, chair of the Asean bloc, will mediate dialogue
• Clashes continue as Trump threatens tariffs if no deal is reached on truce

SAMRAONG: Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders will meet in Malaysia for peace talks on Monday, as the countries clashed for a fourth day in a deadly border dispute.

At least 34 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced as the countries, both popular tourist destinations, fight over a smattering of contested border temples.

Bangkok announced on Sunday that acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet will meet for talks mediated by Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Asean regional bloc of which Thailand and Cambodia are members.

Anwar said the expected talks were to focus on an immediate ceasefire between the two fighting neighbours.

“They [Cambodia and Thailand] have asked me to try and negotiate a peace settlement,” the Bernama national news agency quoted Mr Anwar as saying late on Sunday.

“I’m discussing the parameters, the conditions, but what is important is [an] immediate ceasefire,” the Malaysian premier said.

Cambodia has not commented on the planned talks, which are due to begin in the afternoon.

US President Donald Trump, who spoke to both leaders late Saturday, said they had agreed to “quickly work out” a ceasefire. Trump threatened both nations with eye-watering levies in his global tariff blitz unless they agree to independent trade deals.

“When all is done, and Peace is at hand, I look forward to concluding our Trading Agreements with both!” he wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, artillery clashes continued on Sunday morning near two long-contested ancient temples in the frontier region between northern Cambodia and northeast Thailand.

Cambodian defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thai forces began attacking areas around the temples at 4:50am.

“We rushed to leave the house this morning,” said 61-year-old Thai border resident Maefah, rearranging bin bags of her family’s belongings in the back of a truck stopped at a petrol station in Surin province. “All of my neighbours have already left. And we didn’t feel safe to stay any longer,” she said, declining to give her surname.

Thai army deputy spokesman Ritcha Suksuwanon said Cambodian forces began firing artillery around 4am as the two sides battled for control of strategic positions.

With the conflict inflaming nationalist sentiments, Thailand issued a warning to its own citizens to “refrain from any kind of violence, whether in speech or action” against Cambodian migrants living in the country.

Ceasefire calls

Cambodia’s Hun Manet said his country “agreed with the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces”.

After Trump’s call, Phumtham said he had agreed in principle to enter a ceasefire and start talks. But on Sunday each side blamed the other again for undermining peace efforts.

The Thai foreign ministry accused Cambodian forces of firing shells into civilian homes in Surin province. “Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached while Cambodia is severely lacking in good faith,” the ministry said.

Thailand says eight of its soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, while Cambodia has confirmed eight civilian and five military deaths during the clashes since last Thursday. The conflict has also forced more than 138,000 people to be evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, and 80,000 have been driven from their homes in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government has accused Thai forces of using cluster munitions, while Bangkok has accused Phnom Penh of targeting hospitals.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2025

PORT ASHDOD: Israeli forces seized the pro-Palestinian activist boat Handala in the international waters off Gaza and detained the crew and campaigners from 10 countries, including two French parliamentarians, before bringing the vessel into the port of Ashdod on Sunday.

Campaigners from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition had attempted to break the suffocating siege on Gaza, but were abducted by Israeli forces. On board were activists from 10 countries, including two French MPs from the left-wing France Unbowed party, Emma Fourreau and Gabrielle Cathala.

There are also American, European and Arab activists among those detained by Israeli forces.

A previous boat sent by Freedom Flotilla, the Madleen, was also intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters on June 9 and towed to Ashdod. It carried 12 campaigners, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. The activists were later expelled by Israel.

Activists from 10 countries, including two French lawmakers, detained

Adalah, a legal rights centre, said its lawyers were in Ashdod and had been allowed to speak to 19 members of the 21-strong international crew, which included two French parliamentarians and two Al Jazeera journalists. The remaining two of those detained were dual US and Israeli citizens and had been transferred to police custody, Adalah said.

“After 12 hours at sea, following the unlawful interception of the Handala, Israeli authorities confirmed the vessel’s arrival at Ashdod port,” said the group, set up to campaign for the rights of Israel’s Arab population.

“Adalah reiterates that the activists aboard the Handala were part of a peaceful civilian mission to break through Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza.

The vessel was intercepted in international waters and their detention constitutes a clear violation of international law.“

Just before midnight local time on Saturday, video streamed live from the Handala showed Israeli troops boarding the vessel. An online tracker showed the ship in international waters west of Gaza.

The ship had been on course to try to break an Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and bring a small quantity of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The Handala’s crew had said before their capture in a post on X that they would go on a hunger strike if the Israeli army intercepted the boat and detained its passengers.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the navy stopped the Handala to prevent it from entering the coastal waters off the territory of Gaza. “The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. All passengers are safe,” it said.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2025

Donald Trump has said he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting.

On Monday, Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister’s office said on Sunday. The deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day, has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 218,000.

Trump told reporters in Turnbery, Scotland: “I spoke to both of the prime ministers, and I think by the time I got off, I think they want to settle now.”

A spokesperson for Thailand’s acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said the leader would attend Monday’s talks in response to an invitation from Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim “to discuss peace efforts in the region”. Anwar has been acting in his capacity as this year’s chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet confirmed his participation as well. “I will lead [the] Cambodian delegation to attend a special meeting in Kuala Lumpur hosted by Malaysia, co-organised by the United States and with participation of China,” he said.

China is a close ally of Cambodia, and early in the fighting urged the two nations to resolve their differences peacefully. Hun Manet’s statement appeared to be the first mention of a Chinese link to Monday’s planned talks.

Trump posted on the Truth Social social network on Saturday that he spoke to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia and suggested he would not move forward with trade agreements with either country if the hostilities continued.

Hun Manet said earlier on Sunday his country agreed to pursue an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire”. He said Trump told him that Thailand had also agreed to halt attacks after the US president’s conversation with Phumtham.

Phumtham thanked Trump and qualified Thailand’s position, saying it agreed in principle to a ceasefire but stressed the need for “sincere intention” from Cambodia, the Thai foreign ministry said.

US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Sunday said the US “is prepared to facilitate future discussions in order to ensure peace and stability” between the two countries, and that secretary of state Marco Rubio had spoken to the foreign ministers of both Thailand and Cambodia, urging them “to de-escalate tensions immediately and agree to a ceasefire”.

The fighting flared on Thursday after a landmine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand closed its border crossings with Cambodia, with an exception for migrant Cambodian workers returning home.

Despite the diplomatic efforts, fighting continued on Sunday along parts of the contested border, with both sides refusing to budge and trading blame over renewed shelling and troop movements.

Colonel Richa Suksowanont, a Thai army deputy spokesperson, said Cambodian forces fired heavy artillery into Surin province, including at civilian homes, early on Sunday. He said Cambodia also launched rocket attacks targeting the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple, claimed by both countries, and other areas in a bid to reclaim territory secured by Thai troops. Thai forces responded with long-range artillery to strike Cambodian artillery and rocket launchers.

Battlefield operations would continue and a ceasefire can only happen if Cambodia formally initiates negotiations, he added.

“Cambodian attacks remain irregular and may constitute violations of rules of engagement, posing further risk to border communities,” said the Thai military’s daily summary of the fighting issued on Sunday night.

“The situation remains highly tense, and it is anticipated that Cambodia may be preparing for a major military operation prior to entering negotiations,” it said.

Cambodian defense ministry spokesperson Lt Gen Maly Socheata accused Thai forces of escalating the violence with bombardment of Cambodian territory early on Sunday, followed by a “large-scale incursion” involving tanks and ground troops in multiple areas.

“Such actions undermine all efforts toward peaceful resolution and expose Thailand’s clear intent to escalate rather than de-escalate the conflict,” she said.

Thailand on Sunday reported a new death of a soldier, bringing its total number of fatalities to 22, mostly civilians. Cambodia said 13 people have been killed, though it was unclear if that included Lt. Gen. Duong Samnieng, whose death in combat was announced on Sunday.

More than 139,000 people in Thailand have evacuated to safe locations and over 79,000 people fled from three Cambodian provinces. Many border villages are mostly deserted, with many schools and hospitals shut.

With Associated Press and Reuters

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that “Israel will have to make a decision” on Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied Jerusalem had any part in widespread aid shortages there.

Trump, who is on a four-day visit to Scotland, was asked by a reporter about the images that have been coming out of Gaza of starving children, which he said he thought were “terrible.”

But he promptly pivoted to say, “They’re stealing the food,” without specifying who he was talking about, although he was likely alluding to Hamas, which Israel has regularly accused of stealing aid for its own benefit.

The president lamented that the US had supposedly donated $60 million to the much-maligned Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has taken over the distribution of aid in the Strip, while “no other country gave anything.”

“It makes you feel a little bad when you do that and, you know, you have other countries not giving anything,” he said, sitting alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Nobody gave but us. And nobody said, Gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.”

“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food, a lot of everything,” he said. “If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well.”

The actual figure given to the GHF by the US is $30 million, and the US is also far from the only country to donate humanitarian aid. It is not the largest donor, as the United Arab Emirates has given a larger percentage of assistance.

REPORTER: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?

TRUMP: Say it?

REPORTER: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?

TRUMP: What is she saying?

SOMEONE ELSE: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?

TRUMP: You really at least want to have… pic.twitter.com/BJhUIXdxzM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2025

Netanyahu hits back against starvation claims

Commenting on the slew of changes that he approved to the aid system in Gaza on Saturday night, amid widespread international criticism over mounting reports of starvation-related deaths, Netanyahu, like Trump, insisted that if not for him, Gazans would have starved long ago.

Speaking at a Christian conference in Jerusalem hosted by Trump adviser and prominent Evangelical pastor Paula White, Netanyahu said: “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.”

He claimed that Israel had “enabled the amount required by international law” to enter the Strip, which he said amounted to some 1.9 million tons of aid since the start of the war, which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

Israel “enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war…Otherwise, there would be no Gazans,” Netanyahu declared, blaming Hamas for intercepting supplies and then “accusing Israel of not supplying it.”

In an effort to explain the sudden changes to Israel’s aid policies introduced at the weekend, including first-ever Israeli aid drops, Netanyahu said the decision to implement 10-hour daily humanitarian pauses in densely populated parts of the Strip came after some “well-intended” agencies, as well as the United Nations, made “excuses” not to deliver aid behind combat zones, despite there being “safe corridors.”

“So we’ve just announced that formally,” he said, claiming that there have always been safe routes for UN convoys to travel on. “There are safe corridors, and the UN has no excuses left. No excuses left. Stop lying… Stop accusing Israel deliberately of this egregious falsehood,” he said.

During the conference, Netanyahu thanked evangelical Zionists for standing with Israel against what he said were false allegations surrounding the war in Gaza.

“We have an eighth front — the battle for truth. And I can think of no one who can carry this battle alongside with us… better than [our] many Christian friends.”

He warned that the Israeli-Christian alliance was “being challenged today by… Islamist fundamentalism that seeks to subjugate all Muslims they view as infidels, [and] eradicate the American — and obviously the Israeli — presence in the Middle East.”

Earlier on Sunday, the premier similarly dismissed the UN’s claims about Gaza aid deliveries during a visit to the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev Desert.

In what appeared to be an appeal to his far-right coalition allies and supporters, who argue that allowing aid to enter the Strip hinders the war effort, Netanyahu said that even while Israel would “continue to fight… until complete victory,” it would also have to continue to allow supplies into Gaza.

“We will eliminate Hamas,” the premier said. But, he stressed, “in any path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies.” And, he added, “we have done this until now.”

Contrary to Netanyahu’s claim, however, Israel has not always allowed supplies, minimal or otherwise, to enter the war-torn Gaza Strip, as it implemented a total blockade on the territory and barred all aid from entering between March and May of this year.

Even once aid resumed, it was in markedly lower quantities, with much of it being distributed by the controversial US- and Israel-backed GHF, in a manner that has drawn international backlash over reports of hundreds of aid-seekers being shot dead in near-daily incidents.

Only last week, amid accusations that Israel was starving Gazans, did Netanyahu drastically increase the amount and channels of aid entering Gaza.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin similarly insisted on Sunday that Israel had not subjected the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to starvation, and maintained that Israel cares more about Gazan civilians than Hamas does.

“We are continuing to lead a process of bringing humanitarian aid, while continuing the fighting. Israel is the one that initiated the [GHF] aid distribution sites… This is to prevent famine in Gaza,” Defrin said in a press conference, listing the ways in which Israel was allowing aid to enter and be transported across the Strip.

Defrin repeated the claim that Hamas is stealing aid from civilians, hiding it in tunnels, and at the same time carrying out a “false campaign on starvation in the Gaza Strip.”

“The photos emerging from Gaza are difficult, and they are part of this false campaign,” he said, reiterating that there is “no [deliberate] starvation in the Gaza Strip,” and that Israel was “operating according to international law.”

“We care about the nutrition of the residents of Gaza more than Hamas does,” he declared. “Hamas works intentionally to worsen the condition of the population. Hamas tries with all its might to sabotage the [GHF] aid distribution sites and the arrival of the aid to the Strip.”

Future uncertain after ceasefire talks stall

While speaking to reporters in Scotland on Sunday, Trump also turned to the decision to pull negotiators from Qatar amid anger at Hamas’s response to the latest ceasefire and hostage proposal.

He said that “Israel will have to make a decision” regarding the war and the remaining 50 hostages still held by Gaza’s terror groups. “I know what I would do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to say it,” Trump said.

He claimed that he had predicted the breakdown in talks, assessing that Hamas would not want to release the final hostages because they were its last bargaining chips.

Taking a more blunt approach than Trump on Sunday was leading Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who suggested in an interview with NBC News that Israel would not be able to negotiate a satisfactory end to the war in Gaza, and would have no choice but to take control of the Strip.

Graham is a longtime supporter of Israel who frequently visits the country and is close to Netanyahu.

“I think President Trump has come to believe, and I certainly have come to believe, there’s no way you’re going to negotiate an end of this war with Hamas,” said the South Carolina senator, intimating that the president had soured on the prospect of a deal.

“They’re going to do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin — take the place by force and start over again, presenting a better future for the Palestinians, hopefully having the Arabs take over the West Bank and Gaza,” he said, referring to the US-led allied occupation of the Japanese and German capitals after World War Two.

Growing pressure to recognize Palestinian state

Even as Israel weighs its next steps in the Gaza Strip, pressure has been growing among its European allies to follow France’s lead and unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September.

The decision made Paris the most powerful European nation to advance such a move, after Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all announced their recognition in the months following the outbreak of the Gaza war.

Among those under pressure to follow Macron’s lead is British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was planning to recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

The UK parliament and cabinet are currently in a summer recess until September 1.

The recall, planned for next week, was reportedly decided on after Starmer said Friday the British government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action.

More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, representing about a third of the House of Commons and mostly Labour members, wrote to Starmer on Friday, urging him to reconsider the issue.

Also under the spotlight is German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, after Berlin declined to join its European allies earlier this month in signing a letter condemning Israel’s restrictions on Gaza aid.

Merz said Sunday that he had spoken to Netanyahu by phone, and had urged him to do “everything in his power to bring about an immediate ceasefire… and allow urgently needed humanitarian aid to reach the starving civilian population in Gaza without delay.”

We will closely monitor developments and, in coordination with France, the UK, other European partners, the United States, and Arab states, decide in the coming days how we can contribute to improving the situation. 2/2

— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) July 27, 2025

“We will closely monitor developments and, in coordination with France, the UK, other European partners, the United States, and Arab states, decide in the coming days how we can contribute to improving the situation,” Merz said.

Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM/GAZA: Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors as Jordan and the UAE airdropped supplies into the enclave, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world. Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which the govt rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have broken off with no deal in sight. Military activity will stop from 10am to 8pm until further notice in Al-Mawasi, a designated humanitarian area along the coast, in central Deir al-Balah and in Gaza City, to the north. Jordan and the UAE parachuted 25 tonnes of aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in their first airdrop in months, a Jordanian official source said.The official said the air drops were not a substitute for delivery by land. Palestinian health officials in Gaza City said at least 10 people were injured by falling aid boxes. The military said designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6am and 11pm starting from Sunday.UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said staff would step up efforts to feed the hungry during the pauses in the designated areas. “Our teams on the ground… will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,” he said on X.Health officials at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa hospitals said Israeli firing killed at least 17 people and wounded 50 waiting for aid trucks on Sunday. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The ministry reported six new deaths over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition, bringing the total deaths from malnutrition and hunger to 133, including 87 children.On Saturday, a five-month-old baby died of malnutrition at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, health workers said. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was sending more than 100 trucks carrying over 1,200 metric tonnes of food to southern Gaza on Sunday. A Palestinian official source said Sunday afternoon trucks were still being inspected at Kerem Shalom and had not yet entered Gaza.

UNITED NATIONS: Ever since the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947, the United Nations has been inextricably linked to the fate of Palestinians, with the organization meeting this week hoping to revive the two-state solution.

Here is a timeline on the issue:

In November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 dividing Palestine — which was then under British mandate — into Jewish and Arab states, with a special international zone for Jerusalem.

Zionist leaders accepted the resolution, but it was opposed by Arab states and the Palestinians.

Israel declared independence in May 1948, triggering the Arab-Israeli war which was won convincingly by Israel the following year.

Around 760,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were expelled — an event known as the “Nakba,” Arabic for “catastrophe,” which the United Nations only officially commemorated for the first time in May 2023.

In the aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the conflict, including the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. But linguistic ambiguities between the English and French versions of the resolutions complicated matters, making the scope of the required withdrawal unclear.

In November 1974, Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), gave his first speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, saying he carried both “an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun.”

Days later, the UN General Assembly recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and independence. It granted UN observer status to the PLO as a representative of the Palestinian people.

One of the strongest peace initiatives did not come from the United Nations.

In 1993, Israel and the PLO — which in 1988 unilaterally declared an independent State of Palestine — wrapped up months of secret negotiations in Norway’s capital Oslo.

The two sides signed a “declaration of principles” on Palestinian autonomy and, in 1994, Arafat returned to the Palestinian territories after a long exile and formed the Palestinian Authority, the governing body for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

UN Security Council decisions on how to treat the Palestinians have always depended on the position of the veto-wielding United States.

Since 1972, Washington has used its veto more than 30 times to protect its close ally Israel. But sometimes, it allows key resolutions to advance.

In March 2002, the Security Council — at Washington’s initiative — adopted Resolution 1397, the first to mention a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, with secure and recognized borders.

In December 2016, for the first time since 1979, the Council called on Israel to stop building settlements in the Palestinian territories — a measure that went through thanks to a US abstention, just before the end of Barack Obama’s White House term.

And in March 2024, another US abstention — under pressure from the international community — allowed the Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire amid Israel’s offensive on Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the militants’ October 7 attack.

That measure came after the United States blocked three similar drafts.

In 2011, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas initiated the process of requesting membership of the State of Palestine to the UN, which required a positive recommendation from the Security Council, followed by a favorable vote from the General Assembly.

In the face of opposition from the United States, the process was halted even before a vote in the Council.

The following year, the General Assembly granted the Palestinians a lower status as a “non-member observer State.”

In April 2024, the Palestinians renewed their request to become a full-fledged member state, but the United States vetoed it.

If the Palestinian request had cleared the Security Council hurdle, it would have had every chance of being approved by the necessary two-thirds majority in the Assembly.

According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

In the absence of full membership, the Assembly granted the Palestinians new rights in 2024, seating them in alphabetical order of states, and allowing to submit resolution proposals themselves for the first time.