Gargash reaffirms UAE's call for addressing Middle East issues through diplomacy
Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, on Monday called for addressing Middle East conflicts through diplomacy. "We reaffirm the UAE's position calling for addressing the region's issues with wisdom and reason, and through the diplomatic path," he said in a post on X. On Sunday, the UAE expressed concern over the hostilities in the region and attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that stressed the importance of prioritising diplomacy and dialogue to resolve disputes in ways that "promote stability, prosperity and justice". It called on the international community to intensify efforts to achieve a comprehensive solution to protect the region from the "devastating consequences" of the Israel-Iran conflict. In his post on Monday, Mr Gargash clarified he had deleted an earlier post on X after receiving confirmation regarding statements made by an Israeli minister. "I have received reliable confirmations and, upon reviewing the interview transcript, it is clear that the statement attributed to the Israeli Finance Minister [Bezalel Smotrich] about calling on Gulf countries to fund the war on Iran is not accurate and did not come from him. Based on this, I have deleted the previous tweet," he wrote.
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UAE Moments
32 minutes ago
- UAE Moments
Iran Says 71 Killed After Israeli Airstrike Hits Evin Prison
Iran has reported that 71 people were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit Evin prison, a high-security facility in Tehran known for detaining political prisoners and dissidents. The bombing took place on Monday, during the final days of Israel's aerial campaign against Iran. The death toll was confirmed by judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir, nearly a week after the strike. The list of victims reportedly includes prison employees, conscripts, families of inmates, and even nearby residents. According to Iran's judiciary news agency, Mizan, several parts of the prison compound were destroyed in the attack. These include the medical centre, engineering and visitors' buildings, and the prosecutor's office. One of the most prominent casualties was Ali Ghanaatkar, a senior prosecutor known for handling high-profile cases against regime critics, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi. His death was confirmed earlier, with a large funeral held in Tehran for him and dozens of other victims. Israel Targets Regime Sites, Rights Groups Raise Concerns While Israel has not commented directly on the Evin prison strike, it has said its recent operations targeted ' regime-related sites.' The attack marks a shift in strategy, moving beyond military and nuclear facilities to hit locations symbolically tied to Iran's leadership. Human rights groups have condemned the strike, citing the principle of distinction in armed conflict. They argue that hitting a site housing civilians, visitors, and foreign nationals violates international humanitarian law. Foreign Nationals Among Prisoners Evin prison is known to house several foreign detainees, including French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been held since 2022. In response to the airstrike, France's foreign minister called the bombing ' unacceptable.' Background on Evin Prison Founded in 1972 under Iran's former Shah, Evin spans around five hectares in northern Tehran. Over the years, it has become Iran's central detention facility for political cases, hosting journalists, activists, academics, and foreign nationals accused of espionage. After the 1979 revolution, it became infamous for holding thousands of regime opponents, with multiple human rights reports alleging mistreatment and abuse inside its walls. What Happens Next Iran has called the attack a violation of international and humanitarian law, and it is likely to add further tension to an already volatile situation in the region. As the country buries its dead and assesses the damage, the strike on Evin may become a flashpoint in future debates over civilian protections during wartime.
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Macron's plan to recognise a Palestinian state was doomed from the start
On 9 April, French President Emmanuel Macron made the surprise announcement that Paris could recognise the state of Palestine at a UN conference due to be held in New York on 17-20 June, co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia to revive the 'two-state solution'. The move - already made by 148 countries out of 193 - was hailed as a long-awaited constructive sign after years of despair and destruction. Macron had repeatedly said that he was waiting for the 'right time' to make this political gesture, meaning that he wanted it to be a transformative step towards peace, and a leverage to restore French diplomatic influence in the Middle East. It seems that, so far, he has failed to reach both goals. The conference was postponed after Israel's attack on Iran, and France, along with most Western countries, proclaimed Israel's 'right to defend itself'. The 'two-state solution' appeared, once more, swiped off the agenda. The French president has reportedly not given up his project and is believed to be keeping it for more favourable circumstances. However, even if he managed to get the UK and Canada - as well as other European countries - on board, it is doubtful that the dynamic that he hopes to impulse can convince Israel to change its policy. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Macron's proposal immediately hit the wall of Israeli and US rejection. Tel Aviv slammed it as a 'crusade against the Jewish state' and the French president as an 'antisemite' - an accusation the latter has himself abundantly used since 7 October to disqualify voices critical of Israel. 'They will recognise a Palestinian state on paper, while we will build the Jewish Israeli state on the ground,' Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed, warning against threatening his country with sanctions. The Unites States also put pressure against the move. US President Donald Trump warned that he would consider a recognition of a 'conjectural' Palestinian state a hostile act and made clear his response would be harsh. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, even ironically suggested that France could 'carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state'. Illusion of the 'two-state solution' Israel and the US have their own plan for the region, and it is not a 'two-state solution'. On 18 July 2024, the Knesset passed a resolution stating that a Palestinian state would pose 'an existential danger to the state of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilise the region'. The massacre of the Palestinian people in Gaza and their concentration into small areas of the destroyed enclave ahead of their planned deportation are steps in this blood-paved track. The annexation of the largest part of the occupied West Bank is now written down in law. The judaisation of East Jerusalem meets no obstacle, and Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the crosshairs of messianic groups who dream to build the 'third Temple' there. Israel and the US have their own plan for the region, and it is not a 'two-state solution' Meanwhile, the annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights has been recognised by the US. Israeli troops are settling in Lebanon on the south bank of the Litani River, and are pushing their pawns in Syria. Trump is more prosaic than his evangelical Christian supporters who pray for the final battle of Armageddon to come. He dreams of changing Gaza into 'the Riviera of the Middle East' and a lucrative business opportunity, similar to Netanyahu's 'Gaza 2035' project. Huckabee proposes to create a Palestinian state elsewhere in the Muslim world. In other words, US and Israeli leaders are working to achieve the so-called 'voluntary transfer' of Palestinians and the 'Greater Israel' the Zionist founding fathers have long dreamed about. The gap between the reality on the ground and the so-called 'two-state solution' is now too wide and deep, unless the balance of power dramatically changes - which does not seem close to happening. A recognition under Israeli conditions Hoping to curb these projects saturated with Jewish messianism and Christian millenarianism, and brutally carried out with a shameless disrespect for international law, French diplomats worked for weeks to convince Israel the conference was actually intended to help it. The recognition of a Palestinian state, they explained, would come under an array of conditions that would meet Israelis demands. They include the release of the hostages kept in Gaza, 'a reform of the Palestinian Authority [PA] and the establishment of governance in Gaza under its authority, excluding Hamas, which must be disarmed'. The French also required that the PA commits to stop 'terror salaries', in reference to the financial aid to the families of Palestinians killed, injured or imprisoned by Israel, as well as so-called 'incitement against Israel' in textbooks. UK and France abandon plans to recognise Palestinian state at conference Read More » The objective, recalled Macron, is 'a demilitarised Palestinian state which recognises Israel's existence and security, backed by an international stabilisation mission'. Paris assured that the Arab countries which had planned to participate in the conference agreed to lend their support to these demands. Even PA President Mahmoud Abbas sent Macron what the French president called 'a letter of hope, courage and clarity' in which he expressed the PA's 'readiness to assume sole governance and security responsibilities in the Gaza Strip' and 'the need for Hamas to hand over its weapons and military capabilities'. In addition, Macron suggested that French recognition of the Palestinian state should be linked to a 'reciprocal' normalisation of Arab states' relations with Israel, starting with Saudi Arabia. But none of these attentions assuaged Israeli and American hostility. Eventually, France reportedly abandoned the idea to recognise the Palestine state during the conference, which would instead focus on 'steps towards recognition'. Once more, Palestinians are expected to wait for their existence to be recognised and to rely on an uncertain peace process to have their rights granted, while Israel continues to transform the reality on the ground to its advantage. A Palestinian bantustan The most striking element in this scheme is what remains untold. In 2002, the Arab League offered to normalise Arab countries' ties with Israel in return for a full withdrawal from the occupied territories, a "just settlement" of the Palestinian refugee issue, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. What Macron expects from the Arabs states is to offer the last card in their hand for free, without the slightest guarantees from Israel about settlements and borders, the preservation of the Palestinian character of East Jerusalem, the release of the thousands of administrative detainees, the economic viability of a future Palestinian state, the free movement of Palestinian citizens, etc. The very word 'self-determination', a right which should suffer no condition, appears nowhere. Macron wants to offer Israel control over a 'Palestinian state' deprived of sovereignty and call that 'peace' All these basic conditions of sovereignty are therefore left to the goodwill of the Israelis. However, history teaches us that Israel, in such situations, always takes what is offered and never gives what it vaguely promised in return. France did not give any indication on how it would pressure Israel to 'end its illegal settlement activity, which compromises the viability of a Palestinian state', as it acknowledged. It also failed to ask Israel to comply with the obligation 'to end its unlawful presence, policies in occupied Palestinian territory within one year', as stated by the UN General Assembly in September following an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) saying Israel's occupation was unlawful. If nothing happens to alter the current dynamic, a Palestinian state would be established on a territory fragmented by Israeli settlements and bypass roads, squeezed into a few urban centres isolated from each other, and suffocated by a total economic dependence on Israel. Its capital would be the remote suburb of Abu Dis, which is separated from Jerusalem by a wall. Its borders would be under Israeli control. It would have no military force to oppose the Israeli army's operations. And it would be ruled by a Palestinian Authority which has become a corrupt police regime, subjugated to Israeli security requirements. There is a precedent for such a state, in apartheid South-Africa: it is called a Bantustan. Trump's Gaza plan: The century-old Zionist illusion of 'voluntary' emigration of Palestinians Read More » In other words, Macron wants to offer Israel control over a 'Palestinian state' deprived of sovereignty and call that 'peace'. This is the cruel outcome of years of impunity which allowed Israel to methodically destroy the material basis for a Palestinian state. Europeans bear a heavy responsibility in this disaster. Macron's plan is therefore too little too late. Still, even this is too much for Israel and the US, whose President Donald Trump urged countries to skip the UN conference, before it was eventually cancelled. Israel's logic has remained unchanged for decades: it wants to 'spirit across the border' the non-Jewish presence on the 'promised' land, as suggested by the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl. It wants to be the only military power in the Middle East and expects unconditional support from the world. In its vision, Arabs and especially Palestinians have no choice but to accept their defeat. They have to bear the brunt of European guilt for its antisemitic past - and be accused of antisemitism if they resist their dispossession and erasure. As long as France is not ready to fight this logic and make Israel accountable for its violations of international law, its diplomatic efforts towards a just peace will remain a hypocritical show, only aimed at keeping an illusion of morality. 'Israelisation' of French politics France does nothing to stop a genocide Macron even refuses to name. It does nothing to break the humanitarian blockade of Gaza. It keeps on selling arms to Israel, muzzles as too 'radical' those who dare speak of 'colonialism' and 'apartheid', and criminalises anti-Zionism as antisemitism. When Israel illegally launched its attack on Iran, Macron stuck to the Israeli script: Iran is a threat for the region and should never get the nuclear bomb, Israel is entitled to conduct 'preemptive' strikes, etc. The bottom line of the whole sequence is that France has lost its diplomatic influence in the Middle East. The bottom line of the whole sequence is that France has lost its diplomatic influence in the Middle East Since the 1960s, French diplomacy had followed the tradition of President Charles de Gaulle, whose cardinal rule was independence. After the 1967 war, Paris played a leading role in shaping a political solution to the conflict. It advocated for the self-determination of the Palestinian people, promoted the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as their representative, convinced PLO leader Yasser Arafat to opt out of the armed struggle and recognise Israel. However, since the end of the Cold War and the first war on Iraq in 1991, the US has taken the lead. Between hyper America and intransigent Israel, France, bound by a divided European diplomacy, has no leeway anymore. Since the 9/11 attack, most of the French political and media elite has fully endorsed the Israeli narrative and its endless 'war on terror'. Besides, the domestic obsession about 'Islamism' and immigration interferes more and more with France's Middle East policy. This 'Israelisation' of French politics reached a paroxysmal level after the attack of 7 October 2023. In such a framework, Macron's initiative was doomed to fail, as it is flawed by a total lack of understanding of the Palestinian experience and history, and by a denial of the colonial nature of the situation. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Iran: At least 935 killed during 12-day air war with Israel
At least 935 people were killed in Iran during its 12-day war with Israel, Iranian state media reported on Monday, nearly a week since a ceasefire took hold. "During the 12-day war waged by the Zionist regime against our country, 935 martyrs have been identified so far," the official IRNA news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying. The death toll included 132 women and 38 children, Jahangir said. Israel, on June 13, launched a major bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and atomic scientists. The Israeli strikes hit military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across Iran. Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drone strikes which hit major cities in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing 28 people, according to Israeli authorities. A ceasefire between the two countries took effect on June 24 after a surprise announcement by US President Donald Trump.
