International Israel comes under pressure over occupation of the West Bank
With a new resolution in the UN General Assembly, the Palestinians want to increase the pressure on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories.
A number of states have requested a session of the largest UN body to vote on a resolution aimed at enforcing the implementation of a legal opinion by the UN Supreme Court on the Middle East conflict. This could take place on Tuesday, September 17.
In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague stated in a legal opinion that the occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as soon as possible. Israel had ignored this. The UN General Assembly is now due to vote on a draft resolution next Tuesday which, among other things, demands that "Israel must end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory" within twelve months. Traditionally, there is a large majority at the United Nations in favor of Palestinian and against Israeli concerns.
Israel conquered and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state, which was to be established alongside Israel and which most countries in the world, including Germany, still support today. Israel left the Gaza Strip again in 2005, but continues to control the land, sea and air borders.
Meeting in Madrid calls for an end to the Gaza war
Israel has been waging a bloody war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year. This was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists and other groups in southern Israel. In the process, 1,200 people were killed and a further 250 taken hostage. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 41,000 people have died on the Palestinian side since then, with no distinction made between fighters and civilians.
The pro-Iranian Shiite militia Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel with rockets and drones since October 8, claiming to be acting in solidarity with Hamas. Israel responds to the shelling with air strikes on Hezbollah positions and cadres in southern Lebanon, but also repeatedly deep inside the northern neighboring country.
At a meeting of high-ranking politicians from several European, Asian and African countries, the participants called for an end to the war in Gaza. They had come together in Madrid "to press for an end to the war in Gaza and for the implementation of the two-state solution", announced Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Platform X.
"The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace", said Albares after the meeting. However, a ceasefire, the release of hostages still being held by Hamas and a massive increase in humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip were more urgent.
The term two-state solution refers to an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a two-state solution, as does Hamas, which has set itself the goal of destroying Israel.
The left-wing government in Madrid is one of the harshest critics in Europe of Israel's military action in Gaza. In addition to Spain, the EU countries Ireland and Slovenia as well as the NATO country Norway recognized Palestine as an independent state in early summer.
The meeting in Madrid was attended by EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit, as well as ministers and representatives from Norway, Ireland, Slovenia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, among others.
Dead in Israeli military operation in the West Bank
According to the Israeli military, six Palestinian militants were killed in the last 48 hours during an anti-terrorist operation in the northern West Bank. Five armed men were killed in a targeted air strike in the village of Tubas, according to a statement from the armed forces. A sixth militant was killed by gunfire in the refugee settlement of Fara in Tubas while throwing explosive devices at Israeli soldiers.
Meanwhile, the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that one of its employees had been shot dead by snipers on the roof of his house in Fara. The aid organization emphasized that this was the first case in ten years in which an employee had been killed in violence in the West Bank. The Israeli military subsequently announced that the UNRWA employee killed was the man who had attacked Israeli soldiers with explosive devices. Although employed by UNRWA, the man had already come to the attention of the occupying military through "terrorist activities". The information could not initially be independently verified.
First phase of polio vaccinations in Gaza completed
Meanwhile, a rare ray of hope can be reported from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip: The first round of the vaccination campaign against the polio virus has been successfully completed. This was reported by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Geneva. A good 560,000 children under the age of ten had received their first dose of vaccine. There were no major incidents. The campaign lasted just under two weeks. The children will all need a second dose of the vaccine in four weeks' time in order to be protected from infection.
The WHO and partner organizations had negotiated spatially and temporally limited ceasefires with Israel and Hamas so that families could bring their children to vaccination centers or mobile vaccination teams could reach families. The Gaza Strip was polio-free for 25 years. However, a child with signs of paralysis was diagnosed with polio this summer. The virus spreads in unhygienic and cramped conditions such as those in the Gaza Strip.
A large proportion of the approximately two million inhabitants have been displaced since the start of the Israeli military campaign almost eleven months ago because their neighborhoods were bombed and some of their homes destroyed.
SDA
