Category: 2. World

Drawing on the moral power of the UNGA this September

The UN General Assembly assembles all members of the organization in an open forum with equal voting power. It was the UNGA that adopted the initial UN Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, thereafter playing a constructive role in the promotion and adoption of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Multiple landmark UN Security Council resolutions and every American president since have backed the two-state solution.

Saudi Arabia’s Beirut peace initiative of 2002 comprehensively spelled out the opportunities and responsibilities of all parties in achieving regional peace, stability and prosperity in the context of a two-state solution. This September, nations must come together at the UNGA to define clear steps to end the war and massacre in Gaza, as well as toward achieving a two-state solution.

At the close of the Second World War, Germany accepted responsibility for its crimes and the attendant financial and moral reparations owed to the families of victims, particularly the victims of the Holocaust and the Jewish people in general. Israel has now committed multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the crime of genocide. It is currently implementing this through indiscriminate killing, starvation and the forced removal of Palestinians, “making life so miserable for them that they will leave the area entirely,” in the words of Thomas Friedman.

Israel must be held responsible for the deaths, damage and crimes committed, as well as for reparations

Hassan bin Youssef Yassin

This Israeli government is responsible for the daily suffering of 2 million Gazans, the willful destruction or bulldozing of their homes, for policies leading to starvation, and for the intentional and indiscriminate killing of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, health workers and journalists. Israel must be held responsible for the deaths, damage and crimes committed, as well as for reparations.

As the mother of the state of Israel, the UNGA must demonstrate that it is also the mother of Palestinians and indeed of all humanity. A precise resolution addressing Israel’s crimes as outlined above, as well as the need for compensation and for a clear path toward a two-state solution, must be issued — the voice of the conscience of the world.

With Israeli ministers now officially admitting that they have no intention of ever permitting a Palestinian state, the UNGA and also the UNSC must be all the firmer in their insistence on reparations and the roadmap toward peace and a two-state solution. It is time for humanity to unite against this massacre and bloodshed that is tearing our world apart.

In an Aug. 25 New York Times op-ed entitled “Israel’s Gaza campaign is making it a pariah state,” Friedman wrote that “this Israeli government is committing suicide, homicide and fratricide,” noting that “it appears to many around the world that Palestinian civilians are being killed by the dozen almost daily as the inevitable spillover … from an effort to ensure that Israel has no Palestinian partner in Gaza.” Faced with the slaughter and devastation we are all witnessing in Gaza, the international force of empathy must stand with the Palestinians and extend its hand also to the many Jews and Israelis who equally condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.

International public opinion and the community of nations all share our desire for peace and a two-state solution

Hassan bin Youssef Yassin

As Arabs, we must remind Israelis and all Jews that they are an integral part of the Middle East, of the message of God and of the shared heritage of the three great monotheistic religions. For centuries, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in peace in the Middle East. As Friedman has intimated before, the policies of this Israeli government have nothing to do with Judaism, but rather with an angry and extremist form of Zionism that has accompanied the Israeli state ever since the right-wing Zionist militias and ideology that preceded its creation. It must be made clear by all, including the US, that these policies and ideologies have no place in the stable and peaceful Middle East that we all envisage and are working toward.

At the upcoming UNGA meeting, we Arabs have an added responsibility and role to play, as we stand for the dignity and rights of the Palestinian people and for the state that they deserve, but also for telling all Israelis and Jews who share our desire for peace and positive neighborly relations that they are an integral component of the Middle East, which we have shared peacefully for centuries. International public opinion and the community of nations all share our desire for peace and a two-state solution. We must also understand that we need to talk to the Israeli and the Jewish people more than ever if we want to replace the guns of hatred with the healing of acceptance.

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  Hassan bin Youssef Yassin worked closely with Saudi petroleum ministers Abdullah Tariki and Ahmed Zaki Yamani from 1959 to 1967. He headed the Saudi Information Office in Washington from 1972 to 1981 and served with the Arab League observer delegation to the UN from 1981 to 1983.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News’ point of view

[Press release]

Kabul, Afghanistan — Despite the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education, Afghans across gender and socioeconomic backgrounds almost universally support girls’ right to learn, according to a new UN Women Gender Alert.

The alert looks at the current situation for women and girls across ten key areas, including education and employment, safety and mobility, shedding light on the impact of the crystallizing system of restrictions four years after the Taliban takeover.

In a nationwide, door-to-door survey of more than 2,000 Afghans, 92 per cent said it was ‘important’ for girls to continue their schooling, with support cutting across rural and urban communities.

Among rural populations, 87 per cent of men and 95 per cent of women supported girls’ schooling, while in urban areas the figure was 95 per cent for both men and women.

“This is almost always the first thing girls tell us – they are desperate to learn and just want the chance to gain an education,” said UN Women’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, Susan Ferguson.

“Families also say they want their daughters to have that dream. They know that literacy and learning can change the trajectory of a girl’s life, in a country where half the population is living in poverty.”

In areas where the Taliban ban on women working for NGOs is reportedly enforced, in a separate UN Women telesurvey from July and August 2025, 97 per cent of women surveyed reported that the ban has had a negative impact on their day-to-day lives.

More than half of NGOs in Afghanistan are now reporting it has affected their ability to reach women and girls with vital services.

Other key findings in UN Women’s Afghanistan Gender Alert include:

• Despite the systemic and on-going limitations on their lives, 40 per cent of Afghan women still imagine a future where change and equality are possible – even as nearly every avenue for public participation has closed.
• Almost three-quarters of women across all regions of the country described their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, in a telesurvey conducted in July and August 2025.
• Three-quarters of women report having no influence over decisions in their communities; half said they had no influence within their extended family and one-quarter within their household, according to consultations conducted by UN Women, UNAMA and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in April 2025;
• 14 per cent of women reported leaving their homes only once a week, compared to 2 per cent of men, and only 41 per cent of women left their homes at least once a day, compared to 88 per cent of men, in consultations conducted by UN Women, UNAMA and IOM in June 2025.

In a new customs-free zone on the dusty Uzbek-Afghan border, Taliban representative Sayed Zaher Shah is pleased with his country’s rapidly growing trade links in the region.

“We have big plans for Central Asia,” Zaher Shah told AFP in an interview at the complex — a symbol of cooperation between ex-Soviet Central Asia and Afghanistan.

Four years since the Taliban takeover, economic cooperation is the overriding concern among the five Central Asian states, which all fear the spread of radical Islamism.

“The policy of the Islamic Emirate is oriented towards an open economy. We have good relations with all our neighbours,” Zaher Shah said at the Airitom zone near Termez, in southern Uzbekistan.

Airitom, which opened last year, hosts around 300 businesses, restaurants, a library, conference halls, a Hilton hotel and a state-of-the-art medical centre.

There is no value-added tax or customs duties charged on transactions in the zone.

To reach it, Afghans need to cross the “Friendship Bridge”, which was used by Soviet troops retreating from Afghanistan in 1989 as well as Afghan soldiers fleeing the lightning Taliban advance in 2021.

Abdul Qayom Karimi, 73, said he was receiving medical treatment at Airitom that he could not get in his Afghan home city of Mazar-i-Sharif, around 100 kilometres (62 miles) away.

“My nephew knew about this place and spoke highly of it so I wanted to come here for a general checkup. The doctors here are very advanced,” he said.

Gul Ahmad Amini, a man in his 60s, said he had come with his family after hearing about the centre.

“We are going to buy some things and then we want to go to the clinic to do a health check,” he said.

– Inspiring quotes, high security –

Sanjar Sodikov, an Uzbek official at Airitom, said over 1,000 Uzbeks and up to 2,000 Afghans visit the centre every day.

Afghan nationals can travel visa-free for up to 15 days to Uzbekistan.

Despite the openness, there are still security concerns however.

Border guards carry out stringent checks at the entrance of Airitom and barbed wire tops the wall around it.

Police and plain clothes Uzbek security agents patrolled the area, on alert because of the visiting AFP journalists.

The air-conditioned space offers relief from the heat and dust for Afghans.

Its walls are covered in inspiring quotes about friendship and cooperation from Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Landlocked Central Asia is trying to regain its historic role as an important trading route.

Access to the sea, heading south through Afghanistan, is vital since the route north through Russia is hampered by sanctions.

“The aim is to develop trade relations with Afghanistan and access markets in Iran and Pakistan through cross-border routes,” Sodikov said.

Central Asian countries are launching major infrastructure projects, such as railways, to boost ties with the Taliban.

Afghanistan, which according to the UN is in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, stands to gain greater energy and food security.

– ‘Sales are down’ –

Central Asia’s rapprochement with Kabul began long before Russia in July became the first country to recognise Afghanistan’s Taliban government.

Kazakhstan in 2024 took the Taliban off a list of terrorist organisations, Uzbekistan is boosting diplomatic ties and Kyrgyzstan has urged the West to recognise the Taliban.

Even reclusive Turkmenistan is getting involved with the massive TAPI natural gas pipeline going from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India.

Tajikistan, the only Central Asian country that is critical of the Taliban, has nevertheless also boosted economic links.

There are still signs of friction, such as over the Qosh Tepa Canal in Afghanistan which threatens the region’s fragile water security.

On a local level, several business owners at Airitom complained to AFP about their difficulties.

“Sales are down because of the difficulty in importing and exporting products. The controls… take too long,” said Khursand Tursunov, an Uzbek seller of farm produce.

The Afghan carpet salesman Abdullah Torkaman said he was “making a loss”.

“Only 10 kilos of product or up to $200 worth can be exported per month. The management has promised to increase the limit and trade will soon be easier,” he said.

Still, the model is seen as a success.

“There is a plan to open a similar market in Afghanistan,” Zaher Shah said.

Far above Kabul, the cash-strapped Taliban government has located a potentially lucrative revenue stream: Afghanistan’s airspace.

As Israel and Iran’s exchange of missiles threw flight paths into disarray this year, the skies above Afghanistan offered carriers a less turbulent and faster route to ply — for a flat $700 overflight fee, according to industry insiders.

The US aviation authority eased restrictions on the country’s airspace and paved the way for commercial flyovers in 2023, two years after the Taliban takeover.

Airspace that had long been avoided — as the country endured four decades of war and shifting powerbrokers — suddenly became a viable option, allowing carriers to abbreviate routes and save on fuel costs.

But it was not until the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June that the route really gained traction, allowing the Taliban government to potentially rake in millions.

Faced with shuttered airspace over Iran and Iraq, and unpredictable openings and closures across the Middle East, airlines saw reason to divert course and found refuge over Afghanistan.

While missiles clogged the neighbouring airspace, “the risk of flying over Afghanistan (was) virtually zero”, said France-based aerospace and defence consultant Xavier Tytelman.

“It’s like flying over the sea.”

May’s average of 50 planes cutting through Afghanistan each day skyrocketed to around 280 after June 13, when war erupted in the neighbourhood, data from tracking website Flightradar24 showed.

Since then, in any given day, more than 200 planes often traverse Afghanistan — equivalent to roughly $4.2 million a month, though this figure is difficult to verify as the authorities do not publish budgets and have declined to comment.

• Development comes against  backdrop of US tariffs on New Delhi.
• Modi is on his first visit to China in seven years to attend SCO bloc. 
• Regional security bloc, whose members also include Russia and Iran.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, as ties between the Asian rivals thaw against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s imposition of punitive tariffs on New Delhi.

Modi is on his first visit to China in seven years to participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) regional security bloc, whose members also include Russia and Iran.

Modi’s visit is the first since a deadly 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops on their disputed Himalayan border. The neighbours share a 3,800 km (2,400 miles) border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s.

Here is a timeline of the thaw in ties since the military standoff began five years ago:

2020: At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops are killed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, northern India, in June 2020.

The same year, New Delhi heightened scrutiny of investments from China, banned popular Chinese mobile apps and severed direct passenger air routes.

December, 2022: Minor border scuffles between Indian and Chinese troops break out in the Tawang sector of India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is also claimed by China as part of southern Tibet.

August, 2023: Modi and Xi meet in Johannesburg on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS grouping of nations and agree to intensify efforts to disengage and de-escalate tensions.

September 2024: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, speaking at an event in Geneva, says about 75% of the “disengagement” problems at India’s border with China had been sorted out.

India’s aviation minister also indicates a thaw in the standoff, writing in a post on X that the two countries had discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in Delhi.

October 2024: Both nations reach a deal on patrolling their disputed frontier to end the military stand-off.

Modi and Xi hold their first formal talks in five years on October 23 in Russia on the sidelines of a BRICS summit.

The leaders agreed to boost communication and cooperation between their countries and resolve conflicts to help improve ties.

December 2024: Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval travels to China to hold first formal talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the border issue after the October agreement.

Doval and Wang are designated as special representatives by their countries for discussing the border issue.

January 2025: Wang and India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri hold talks in China. Both sides agree to resume direct air services and work on resolving differences over trade and economic issues.

April 2025: Chinese embassy spokesperson says India and China should stand together to overcome difficulties in the face of tariffs imposed by Trump’s administration.

July 2025: Jaishankar makes first visit to China in five years, says India and China must resolve border friction, pull back troops and avoid “restrictive trade measures” to normalise their relationship.

Reuters reports that the Indian government’s top think tank has proposed easing rules that de facto require extra scrutiny for investments by Chinese companies.

August 2025: Wang tells his Indian counterpart while on a visit to New Delhi that China and India should establish “correct strategic understanding” and regard each other as partners, not rivals.

Later in the month, Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong says at an event in New Delhi that China opposes Washington’s steep tariffs on India and will “firmly stand with India”.

How a leaked phone call derailed Thai PM’s careerpublished at 11:10 British Summer Time

11:10 BST

Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Thailand’s Constitutional Court strikes again, removing yet another prime minister from office.

The country’s notoriously interventionist panel of nine appointed judges has ruled that Paetongtarn Shinawatra violated ethical standards in a phone call she had in June with veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which he then leaked.

In it, Paetongtarn could be heard being conciliatory towards Hun Sen over their countries’ border dispute, and criticising one of her own army commanders.

She defended her conversation saying she had been trying to make a diplomatic breakthrough with Hun Sen, an old friend of her father Thaksin Shinawatra, and said the conversation should have remained confidential.

The leak was damaging and deeply embarrassing for her and her Pheu Thai party. It sparked calls for her to resign as her biggest coalition partner walked out of the government, leaving her with a slim majority.

In July, seven out of the nine judges on the court voted to suspend Paetongtarn, a margin which suggested she would suffer the same fate as her four predecessors. So today’s decision is not a surprise.

Paetongtarn is the fifth Thai prime minister to be removed from office by this court, all of them from administrations backed by her father.

This has given rise to a widespread belief in Thailand that it nearly always rules against those seen as a threat by conservative, royalist forces.

For more, read Jonathan Head’s piece in full.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced the “endless catalogue of horrors” unfolding in Gaza after nearly two years of conflict, as Gaza’s civil defence reported dozens of new casualties from Israeli strikes.

As Israel’s military prepares to take control of Gaza City, the nation faces increasing domestic and international pressure to halt its offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the UN has officially declared a famine.

About two million Palestinians—the vast majority of the population—have been displaced at least once during the conflict, with humanitarian organisations warning against any expansion of military operations.

“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres told journalists on Thursday, emphasising the need for accountability.

On Thursday, massive plumes of smoke were rising above Gaza City following Israeli bombardments of the city’s outskirts, as captured in video footage.

Aya Daher, displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, told the AFP news agency she had no shelter and was “just waiting for God’s mercy” outside a local hospital.

“There were explosions all night. I was injured, my husband was injured by shrapnel, and my son was also wounded in the head. Thank God we survived, but there were martyrs,” she said.

Cindy McCain, head of the UN’s World Food Programme, warned that Gaza had reached “breaking point” and called for the urgent restoration of its network of 200 food distribution points.

Following a visit to the territory, McCain reported witnessing firsthand that “desperation is soaring”.

The UN formally declared a famine in the Gaza governorate last week, attributing it to “systematic obstruction” of humanitarian aid deliveries by Israel.