US should stop backing Israeli genocide in Gaza

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian accused the US of siding with the occupying regime of Israel in its relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

He also said the resistance forces that are fighting to liberate their stolen lands are branded as terrorists but say the Israeli regime that has occupied the Palestinian lands is defending itself.

“They call the Palestinian self-liberation movement, which has a right to self-defense, terrorists, but they refer to the occupying and war criminal regime ‑ Israel, that is committing genocide in Gaza, as having the right to self-defense,” Amir Abdollahian lamented.

“The US and several European countries are watching and supporting the killing of about 7,000 civilians in less than three weeks by the Israeli regime. They help this regime militarily and financially,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

“We recommend that the US works for peace and security, not war against women and children … and to stop sending rockets, tanks and bombs to be used against the people of Gaza. The US should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine.”

US President Joe Biden visited Tel Aviv on October 18 to express unwavering support for Israel in its relentless onslaught on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The night before his arrival in Tel Aviv, Israeli fighter jets exploded Al-Ahli al-Arabi in the city of Gaza killing 500 civilians, including the injured, medical staff, and citizens who had taken shelter there from the Israeli bombardments. 

The bombardment of the hospital prompted Arab leaders, including the Palestinian Authority president and the king of Jordan, to cancel a meeting with Biden in Egypt.

The US has also aborted draft resolutions at the UN Security Council to halt the war.

The Israeli war on Gaza, which is home to over 2 million people, has been described as genocide and war crime in terms of international law. 

After the Biden visit to the occupied territories, the leaders of Germany, Britain and France have visited Israel to express their solidarity with the occupation regime of Israel.

The war started after the Hamas resistance group launched a surprise attack on portions of lands occupied by Israel in 1948 in retaliation to the regime's brutal attacks on the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.

Richard Falk, an international law scholar who taught at Princeton University for forty years, has said the West's refusal to call for a ceasefire is a green light to Israel’s ethnic cleansing.

“By failing to advocate for a ceasefire, western states have given a green light to Israel’s agenda of collective punishment, which might itself be grotesque cover for the regime’s end goal of massive dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Falk wrote in Middle East Eye on October 24.

 

Arab states support two-state solution for lasting peace

The participating nations, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Mauritania, and the United Comoros Republic, collectively condemned and rejected the targeting of civilians, all acts of violence and terrorism against them, and any violations or transgressions of international law, including international humanitarian law, by any party. This condemnation extends to the targeting of civilian infrastructure.

They stressed the importance of the international community, especially the Security Council, assuming its responsibilities to seek peace in the Middle East. This includes expeditious, genuine, and collective efforts to resolve the conflict and implement a two-state solution based on relevant UN resolutions, ensuring the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with contiguous territory, viable for life, along the lines of pre-June 4, 1967, borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

The statement denounced forced individual or collective displacement and policies of collective punishment. It strongly opposed any attempts to settle the Palestinian issue at the expense of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region. The forced displacement of the Palestinian people is deemed a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

The signatories underscored the need to fully commit to ensuring the complete respect for the Geneva Conventions of 1949, particularly concerning the responsibilities of the occupying force. They also stressed the importance of the immediate release of hostages and civilian detainees, ensuring safe, dignified, and humane treatment for them in accordance with the international law. The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this regard is highlighted.

The statement emphasized that the right to self-defense, as outlined in the UN Charter, does not justify flagrant violations of international law and humanitarian law, or the deliberate neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and an end to the decades-long occupation.

The signatories called on the UN Security Council to compel parties to the conflict to an immediate and sustainable ceasefire. They stressed that hesitation in characterizing blatant violations of international humanitarian law serves as a green light for the continuation of such practices and complicity in their commission.

Furthermore, the statement urged action to ensure and facilitate rapid and sustainable access for humanitarian aid to Gaza without obstacles, in accordance with relevant humanitarian principles. It called for the mobilization of additional resources in collaboration with the UN and its affiliated organizations, especially UNRWA.

Expressing deep concern over the possibility of the current confrontations expanding and the conflict spreading to other areas in the Middle East, the signatories appealed to all parties to exercise maximum restraint. They underscored that the expansion of this conflict would have severe consequences on the peoples of the region and international peace and security.

The statement also expressed profound concern about the escalating violence in the West Bank and called on the international community to support and enhance the Palestinian Authority. Financial assistance to the Palestinian people, including through Palestinian institutions, is deemed to be of utmost importance.

The signatories affirmed that the absence of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led to the recurrence of violence and suffering for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the peoples of the region.

Palestinians 56 years of suffocating occupation, says UN Chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the October 07 military operation against Israel did not happen in a vacuum, noting that the Palestinians have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.

The remarks by the world’s top diplomat angered Israel. The regime’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called for the resignation of Guterres, saying Israel must rethink its relations with the world body.

“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” Guterres said.

Following such remarks, the foreign minister of Israel also canceled his scheduled meeting with the UN chief.

Also, in a post on X, Guterres said, "The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the horrific attacks by Hamas. These horrendous attacks also cannot justify subjecting the entire Palestinian population to collective punishment."

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in an annual report on Palestine has said Gaza has endured 16 years of de-development, as well as suppressed human potential and the right to development.

 

Israel preparing for ground invasion of Gaza, says Netanyahu

Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Wednesday, but he declined to provide any details on the timing or other information about the operation.

He said the decision on when forces would go into the Palestinian enclave, controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, would be taken by the government's special war cabinet, which includes the leader of one of the centrist opposition parties.

"We have already killed thousands of terrorists and this is only the beginning," Netanyahu said.

"Simultaneously, we are preparing for a ground invasion. I will not elaborate on when, how or how many. I will also not elaborate on the various calculations we are making, which the public is mostly unaware of and that is how things should be."

Israel has carried out days of intense bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip following the October 07 Hamas attack on Israeli communities that killed some 1,400 people. More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in the bombardments, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Netanyahu, who has so far not taken responsibility for the security failures that led to the Hamas attack, said all involved would be called to account.

"The scandal will be fully investigated," he said. "Everyone will have to give answers, me too. But all this will happen only after the war."

Earlier, citing US and Israeli officials, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had agreed to delay the invasion of Gaza for now, so the United States could rush missile defences to the region.

Reuters reported on Monday that Washington advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault and is keeping Qatar - a broker with the Palestinian militants - apprised of those talks as its tries to free more hostages and prepare for a possible wider regional war.

Pro Israeli remarks trigger walkout at IPU meeting

The inaugural speech at the 147th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Luanda, Angola, drew an angry reaction from several Muslim delegations that deemed President Duarte Pacheco’s remarks in favor of the Israeli regime unjust and misleading.

On Monday the president, who is wrapping up his three-year term, kicked off his speech by commenting on “Israel’s right to defend itself”, referring to the regime’s heavy and relentless bombardment of Gaza in recent days.

The attacks have so far resulted in the death of more than 5,000 people, with children making up half of the casualties. Israel has also begun a full siege of the territory not allowing any food, water, fuel, and medicine inside Gaza. 

Delegations from South Africa, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, and some other Muslim countries reportedly walked out of the opening ceremony after a member of the Iranian delegation shouted “Israel is a terrorist entity” to protest the president’s remarks. 

The Parliamentary delegations returned to the ceremony once the speech was over and once again voiced their strong opposition to the rhetoric against the Palestinian Resistance. 

After the incident, Pacheco’s past interactions with the regime were brought to the limelight. The IPU president, who is supposed to represent 179 parliaments from around the world, visited the occupied territories in 2021 a year after being elected. 

During an interview with Israeli media, the official expressed regret that the IPU has chosen to condemn the regime at some instances. “I regret that there are such condemnations against Israel, because I don’t believe that they contribute to a spirit of dialogue,” he said while talking to the Jewish News Syndicate. 

Pacheco was also called a true friend of Israel during a meeting with the Knesset speaker Mickey Levy. 

 

Human Rights Activists condemn calls for war with Iran

Nearly 60 activists warned that a military attack on Iran would damage the legitimate struggle of the Iranian people for democracy and peace.

Dozens of Iranian human rights activists, including the husband of jailed 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, released a joint statement Tuesday condemning recent calls for war against Iran, warning that a military attack on their country would undermine the legitimate struggle of the Iranian people for democracy and peace.

The 57 activists published their statement as politicians in the United States, Europe, and Israel continued to lash out at Iran in the wake of Hamas' October 07 attack on Israel, claiming without evidence that Tehran was involved in planning the assault and—in some cases—pushing for a military response.

The new statement calls out by name the Union Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a group chaired by former US Senator Joe Lieberman. Two days after Hamas' attack, Lieberman and UANI CEO Mark Wallace urged the US, Israel, and their allies to launch strikes against military and intelligence targets in Iran.

The Iranian activists warned that such an attack would bring a massive avalanche of suffering and destruction upon our country.

While denouncing the Iranian government's "tyranny and oppression at home and tension-causing policies abroad, the activists said they oppose the direct and indirect call for a military attack on Iran, under any guise and with any pretext.

"We ask all Iranians not to allow opportunists to tie the struggle of the Iranian people for democracy, freedom, and peace with warmongering and calling for a military attack on our country," they wrote.

The statement was released amid mounting fears that Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip could soon become a wider regional conflict, particularly once Israel launches its expected ground invasion of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In recent days, the Biden administration has mobilized missile defense systems and aircraft carriers to the Middle East, placed thousands of US troops on higher alert, and sent additional arms to Israel in what's been described as an effort to deter Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah from getting involved in the war on Gaza. Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire intermittently since October 07.

US officials have blamed Iran for recent drone attacks on American troops stationed in Syria and Iraq, even while acknowledging it's not clear that Iran ordered the attacks. In a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the United States does not seek conflict with Iran and does not want this war to widen.

"But if Iran or its proxies attack US personnel anywhere, make no mistake, we will defend our people, we will defend our security‚—swiftly and decisively, said Blinken.

Iranian leaders, for their part, have said they could be forced to act if Israel invades Gaza.

During a news conference earlier this week, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Israel and the US do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control.

 

 

Saudi Crown Prince stresses importance of ensuring Palestinian rights

According to Saudi Gazette, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman engaged in a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, highlighting the imperative for de-escalation in Gaza and a commitment to international humanitarian law in light of the current regional tensions.

The Crown Prince, expressing deep concern over the situation, underscored the necessity to halt the current escalation, preventing any further deterioration that could adversely affect the security and stability of the entire region.

He emphasized the importance of upholding the principles of international law, particularly in protecting civilians and vital infrastructure.

President Biden, in turn, extended his appreciation to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for his efforts in reducing and containing escalation in the region.

Furthermore, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman affirmed Saudi Arabia's rejection of all forms of targeting civilians and infrastructure, emphasizing the need for a swift resolution to the crisis.

He stressed the urgency of restoring peace and ensuring the Palestinian people's legitimate rights.

The diplomatic conversation also touched upon the vital need to lift the blockade on Gaza, a move seen as essential for addressing the humanitarian crisis in the region

The Crown Prince asserted that such measures are crucial for fostering a just and comprehensive peace, echoing a sentiment of peace and stability for the entire Middle East.