Latest news with #PeaceProcess
IOL News
5 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
UN envoy highlights Gaza's humanitarian crisis: 'Palestinians deserve more than survival'
Displaced Palestinians ferry bags of food aid after storming a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Palestinians living in Gaza "deserve more than survival," the United Nations envoy for the Middle East told the Security Council on Wednesday, as Israel's war there enters its 600th day. Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza, earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive. The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis after Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week. "Since the resumption of hostilities in Gaza, the already horrific existence of civilians has only sunk further into the abyss. This is manmade," Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Council. "Death is their companion," she continued. "It's not life, it's not hope. The people of Gaza deserve more than survival. They deserve a future." The aid that is now coming in "is comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk," she said. Kaag warned that there could be no "sustainable peace" in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that the West Bank also is on a "dangerous trajectory." And she called for collective action to revive a two-state solution, saying that a high-level international conference in June presents a "critical opportunity." "It must launch a concrete path towards ending the occupation and realizing the two-state solution," she said. When speaking of people in Gaza, "the words empathy, solidarity and support have lost their meaning," Kaag said. "We should not become accustomed to the number of people killed or injured. These are daughters, mothers, and young children whose lives have been shattered. All have a name, all had a future, all had dreams and aspirations." 'Why didn't I die?' The UN Security Council also heard the harrowing testimony of an American surgeon on Wednesday, a few weeks after his return from Gaza. "I am here because I have witnessed what is happening in Gaza with my own eyes, especially to children, and I cannot pretend not to have seen it. You too, cannot claim ignorance," said Dr Feroze Sidhwa. The medical system in Gaza has not failed, he said. "It has been systematically dismantled through a sustained military campaign that has willfully violated international humanitarian law." Children are "supposed to be protected," he said, but "in Gaza, those protections are simply gone." "Most of my patients were pre-teen children, their bodies shattered by explosions and torn by flying metal. Many died. Those who lived often awoke to find their entire families gone," he said. "According to the War Child Alliance, nearly half of Gaza's children are suicidal," he said. "They ask, why didn't I die with my sister, my mother, my father? Not out of extremism, but out of unbearable grief. I wonder if any member of this Council has ever met a five-year-old child who no longer wants to live." The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, blamed Hamas for the situation in Gaza. "There is suffering in Gaza, but the blame is on the shoulders of Hamas ... so they will continue to be suffering until Hamas will understand that they will not stay in Gaza," he told reporters. Agence France-Presse
Russia Today
6 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Kiev's actions harming peace process
The recent rise in the number of Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil is detrimental to the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the two countries, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said. Over the past week alone, Russian air defenses have downed 1,465 Ukrainian drones over territories outside the active conflict zone, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Tuesday. 'At the very least, we can say that these actions by Kiev… are clearly at odds with the pursuit of the peace process,' Peskov told a press briefing that same day. 'Of course we condemn these actions,' he said, adding that they 'do not contribute to the advancement of the peace process.' The Russian Defense Ministry stated on Tuesday that the 'Kiev regime, supported by certain European countries, has taken a number of provocative steps aimed at disrupting the negotiation process,' which was initiated by Moscow earlier in May. According to the ministry, there has been a spike in Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory involving drones as well as Western-made missiles. Military officials in Moscow estimated that between May 20 and May 27, air defense systems intercepted more than 2,300 Ukrainian UAVs, most of them operating outside frontline areas. The ministry added that Russian forces retaliated with high-precision missile and drone strikes aimed 'exclusively at Ukraine's military and defense industrial facilities.' The developments followed last week's telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, which both leaders characterized as productive. Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks since 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The two sides agreed on a record prisoner swap and discussed a follow-up meeting. As part of the ongoing diplomatic process, Moscow has said it is working on a memorandum for settling the conflict, which will be presented to Kiev in the near future. It is expected to include Moscow's key terms for a potential ceasefire, conflict settlement, and a timeline for an eventual peace agreement.
National Post
25-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Letters: Why anti-Israel terrorists love Canada's Liberals
Foreign minister's view on Hamas-Israel war 'far from balanced' Article content Article content I read with incredulity Carson Jerema's column regarding new Foreign Minister Anita Anand's position on Israel and Gaza. It caused me great concern regarding the future and safety of Canadian Jews and Canada's relationship with Israel. Article content In her comments made a day after being sworn in, Anand made no mention of the facts that Hamas has held the Palestinian population of Gaza hostage for more than 18 years and that it suppresses and viciously punishes any dissenting voices. She appears unaware that there was a ceasefire, violently ended by Hamas in the early hours of October 7, 2023 with the attack that murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 hostage. She fails to address the fact that Hamas hijacks aid trucks sent into Gaza for its own use, and sells the food on the black market to its own people for outrageous prices. She neglects to mention the billions of dollars of international aid sent to Gaza over the years and stolen by Hamas for the construction of tunnels and to purchase weapons. Article content Article content She also fails to mention the multiple attempts over the past 20 years made by Israel to establish a two-state solution. She blindly accepts mortality data in Gaza, supplied by Hamas, while neglecting the fact that many of the Israelis murdered and taken hostage Oct. 7 were strong supporters of the peace process, including the roles they played in transporting Palestinian civilians of Gaza to Israel for health care. Article content Article content She espouses a balanced view of the crisis, but her view is far from balanced. Her pro-Palestinian opinions are very apparent. She is totally ignorant of the facts and the situation on the ground. There are many of us in the Jewish community who would be happy to educate her. Article content Article content Canadians should be very proud! Hamas has congratulated us on our recent foreign policy stance on Israel and Gaza. Article content It should warm the cockles of every Canadian heart that a terrorist group, dedicated to eradicating a UN-recognized, democratically elected country and its entire civilian population, is in harmony with us. Article content Anita Anand may be new to the foreign ministry but she is no rookie and the Israel-Hamas war is not a new issue. That her first order of business was to condemn Israel has to be policy and the explanation for it is obvious. There are more voters who will vote against Israeli interests than for them, regardless of the morality of supporting terrorists versus an allied democracy. The Liberals have, over the years, shown that their only principles are those that will keep them in power.
LBCI
22-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel PM accuses France, Britain, Canada of emboldening Hamas 'mass murderers'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of emboldening Hamas militants by condemning Israel's recent expansion of its offensive in Gaza. "They want Israel to stand down and accept that Hamas's army of mass murderers will survive, rebuild and repeat the October 7 massacre," Netanyahu said in a video after a joint statement by the three leaders, adding that they "may think that they're advancing peace. They're not. They're emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever." AFP
Bloomberg
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Qatar Assails Israel Over New Gaza Attacks and Lack of Aid
Qatar, a key mediator on ending the war in Gaza, criticized Israel's latest offensive against Hamas, saying it would prolong the conflict and worsen the humanitarian situation for Palestinians. Israel's decision to step up attacks 'obliterates any possible opportunity for peace,' Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said at the Qatar Economic Forum. It 'shouldn't be acceptable' to the international community, he said.
