What to expect, and what not to, at the UN meeting on an Israel-Palestinian two-state solution
Israel and its close ally the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, which starts Monday and will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia. Israel's right-wing government opposes a two-state solution, and the United States has called the meeting 'counterproductive' to its efforts to end the war in Gaza. France and Saudi Arabia want the meeting to put a spotlight on the two-state solution, which they view as the only viable road map to peace, and to start addressing the steps to get there.
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News24
12 minutes ago
- News24
Netanyahu asks Red Cross for help after ‘harrowing videos' of Gaza hostages emerge
Israelis held hostages in Gaza face starvation. Outrage is building in Israel over the continued captivity of the hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the International Committee of the Red Cross for help. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday for help aiding hostages in Gaza, as outrage built at videos showing two of them emaciated. The premier's office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and 'requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and... immediate medical treatment'. The ICRC said in a statement it was 'appalled by the harrowing videos' and reiterated its 'call to be granted access to the hostages'. In response, Hamas's armed wing said it would allow the agency access to the hostages but only if 'humanitarian corridors' for food and aid were opened 'across all areas of the Gaza Strip'. The Al-Qassam Brigades said it did 'not intentionally starve' the hostages, but they would not receive any special food privileges 'amid the crime of starvation and siege' in Gaza. READ | 'They managed to break Rom': Plea for return of Gaza hostages after Islamic Jihad shows video Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war. 'I am filled with even stronger determination to free our kidnapped sons,' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said expressing shock at the video of emaciated hostages held by Hamas — Reuters (@Reuters) August 4, 2025 The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both of whom appeared weak and malnourished, have fuelled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal. A statement from Netanyahu's office on Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and 'expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations'. Netanyahu 'told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing', the statement added. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining captives. There was particular outrage in Israel over images of David, who appeared to be digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave. How psychopathic is Hamas? It forced starving hostage Evyatar David to DIG HIS OWN GRAVE for the cameras. — Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 2, 2025 The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a 'famine is unfolding'. An emergency session on the 'dire situation of the hostages' will be convened by the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Israel's UN ambassador said Sunday in a post on X. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the images 'are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas', calling for the release of 'all hostages... immediately and unconditionally'. Kallas said in the same post on X that 'Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza' - demands endorsed earlier this week by Arab countries, including key mediators Qatar and Egypt. She added that 'large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need.' Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, while UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of what Israel does allow in is looted or diverted in chaotic circumstances. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images Many desperate Palestinians are left to risk their lives seeking what aid is distributed through controlled channels. On Sunday, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed nine Palestinians who were waiting to collect food rations from a site operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) near the southern city of Rafah. 'The soldiers opened fire on people. I was there, no one posed any threat' to the Israeli forces, 31-year-old witness Jabr al-Shaer told AFP by phone. There was no comment from the military. Five more people were killed near a different GHF aid site in central Gaza on Sunday, while Israeli attacks elsewhere killed another five people, said civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images Braslavski and David are among the 49 hostages taken during Hamas' 2023 attack who are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Most of the 251 hostages seized in the attack were released during two short-lived truces, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. Hamas' 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1 219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60 430 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the UN. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of its staff members was killed in an Israeli attack on its Khan Yunis headquarters, in southern Gaza. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was 'not aware of a strike' in that area. Media restrictions and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by various parties.
Boston Globe
41 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
US and Israeli officials float idea of ‘all or nothing' Gaza deal
The Israeli government has also come under mounting international criticism over the mass hunger that has spread through Gaza's population of about 2 million people after Israel imposed strict restrictions in recent months on the entry of aid. Advertisement Israel has continued launching military strikes on Gaza, even as it has facilitated the entry of more aid into Gaza in recent days. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that Israeli artillery had hit its offices in Khan Younis, killing one of the aid group's staffers and injuring others. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration's special envoy to the Middle East, who is visiting the region, met with families of Israeli hostages on Saturday and told them that President Donald Trump now wants to see all the living hostages released at once. Advertisement 'No piecemeal deals, that doesn't work,' he said, according to an audio recording of part of the meeting published by the Ynet Hebrew news site. 'Now we think that we have to shift this negotiation to 'all or nothing' -- everybody comes home,' he said. 'We have a plan around it,' he added, without elaborating. A participant in the meeting confirmed that Witkoff made such remarks. Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly. Instead, negotiations for a ceasefire between the two sides have run through intermediaries: the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Trump are said to be working on a new proposal that would involve presenting Hamas with an ultimatum, according to reports in the Israeli news media that were confirmed Sunday by a person familiar with the matter. The White House was not immediately available for comment. Under the terms of the ultimatum, Hamas would have to release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and agree to terms to end the war that include the group's disarmament. Otherwise, the Israeli military would continue its campaign. Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said the Palestinian armed group had yet to receive a formal Israeli proposal for a comprehensive deal from Arab mediators. He said that while Hamas supported such an agreement in principle, it would not disarm -- which has long been a core Israeli condition. 'This has been our demand from the beginning: an end to the war, the release of prisoners, and day-after arrangements in the Gaza Strip -- a clear and comprehensive deal,' Mardawi said in a phone interview. Advertisement The prospects of any rapid advancement toward such a deal appear dim. Hamas has consistently rejected Israel's terms for ending the war throughout the negotiations. On Saturday, the group said in a statement that it would not disarm unless a Palestinian state was established, despite a call from Arab states last week for the group to do so. The Israeli government opposes Palestinian statehood. On Sunday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli national security minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews revere as the Temple Mount, long a tinderbox for Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Arab leaders denounced Ben-Gvir's ascent to the site -- during which he openly prayed -- as a provocation. 'It's important to convey from this place that we should immediately conquer Gaza, exercise our sovereignty there, and eliminate every last Hamas member,' Ben-Gvir said from the site, in a video shared by his office. Many Israelis say they support a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages and end the war. But many are skeptical that such a deal can be achieved under the conditions set by the hard-line Israeli government, which has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas surrenders or is destroyed. Many also doubt that Hamas would ultimately give up all the hostages, the only cards the group holds against Israel. On Sunday night, Netanyahu argued that Hamas 'does not want a deal' and vowed to press on in the attempt 'to release our captive sons, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.' Given the firm positions of both sides, an Israeli and American push for a comprehensive deal may not bring an agreement closer, according to analysts. Advertisement 'Hamas is essentially saying to Israel: 'If you want the 20 living hostages out, give us a full victory,'' said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an independent research group. Hamas' terms are far beyond what Netanyahu would accept, Yaari said. But, he added, the prime minister 'has to keep convincing the Israeli public and his own voters that he is doing everything he can, and he has to reassure the families of the hostages.' Mardawi said that Hamas saw little reason to negotiate with Israel given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. 'What is the point of talks when people are dying of starvation?' he said. The hunger crisis worsened after Israel's government imposed severe restrictions on aid entering the territory. Israel has accused aid agencies of mismanaging supplies and Hamas of diverting aid. But some Israeli military officials said the military never found proof that Hamas had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, killed about 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government, and about 250 people were taken captive to Gaza. More than 100 hostages were freed during previous ceasefires and Israeli forces operating in the enclave have retrieved the bodies of some others. Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli soldier Itay Chen, who was abducted by Hamas, attended the meeting Saturday with Witkoff. Chen's son is now presumed dead by Israeli authorities. Advertisement He said Witkoff had discussed the need for a comprehensive deal, rather than a partial deal. 'After six months, they've now come to the understanding that it's not possible to execute it,' said Chen. 'We lost six months on this.' This article originally appeared in
Bloomberg
42 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Cambodia, Thailand Begin Talks After Biggest Clashes in Decades
Senior security officials from Cambodia and Thailand began talks in Malaysia on Monday aimed at de-escalating border tensions, after the worst clash between the two Southeast Asian nation neighbors in decades left more than 40 dead. The meeting of the so-called General Border Committee — one of several bilateral mechanisms between the two nations to address border matters — was shifted to Kuala Lumpur following Thailand's request to move it to a neutral venue due to what it described as a sensitive situation.
