Pope speaks against ‘forced' mass displacement of Gaza civilians
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Arab News
29 minutes ago
- Arab News
Starmer to press Trump on Gaza, trade in Scotland talks
TURNBERRY, Britain: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press Donald Trump on ending 'the unspeakable suffering' in Gaza, and also talk trade, when they meet Monday at the US president's golf resort in Scotland. The talks will come a day after the US and the European Union reached a landmark deal to end a transatlantic standoff over tariffs and avert a full-blown trade war. Starmer is expected to push Trump on urging a revival of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as a hunger crisis deepens in the besieged Palestinian territory. The meeting at Turnberry, southwestern Scotland, comes as European countries express growing alarm at the situation in Gaza, and as Starmer faces domestic pressure to follow France's lead and recognize a Palestinian state. The leaders will also discuss implementing a recent UK-US trade deal, as well as efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine, according to a British government statement issued late Sunday. But it is the growing threat of starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza that is set to dominate the talks, on the third full day of Trump's trip to the land where his mother was born. Starmer is expected to 'welcome the president's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza,' a Downing Street spokesperson said. 'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.' Trump told reporters Sunday that the US would give more aid to Gaza but he wanted other countries to step up as well. 'It's not a US problem. It's an international problem,' he said, before embarking on crunch trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the resort south of Glasgow. Starmer and Trump's meeting comes after the UK PM backed efforts by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to air drop aid to Gaza. Humanitarian chiefs remain skeptical such deliveries can deliver enough food safely for the area's more than two million inhabitants. On Sunday, Israel declared a 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle the hunger crisis. Last week, the United States and Israel withdrew from Gaza truce talks, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of blocking a deal — a claim rejected by the Palestinian militant group. Starmer held talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, after which the UK government said they agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace.' But the Downing Street statement made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his country will recognize in September. More than 220 MPs in Britain's 650-seat parliament, including dozens from Starmer's own ruling Labour party, have demanded that he too recognize Palestinian statehood. Number 10 said Starmer and Trump would also discuss 'progress on implementing the UK-US trade deal,' which was signed on May 8 and lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force. Trump said Sunday the agreement was 'great' for both sides and that Starmer was doing 'a very good job.' After their meeting they will travel together to Aberdeen in Scotland's northeast, where the US president is expected to formally open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on his five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy, and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
The UN, the Palestinians, Israel and a stalled two-state solution
UNITED NATIONS: Ever since the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947, the United Nations has been inextricably linked to the fate of Palestinians, with the organization meeting this week hoping to revive the two-state solution. Here is a timeline on the issue: In November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 dividing Palestine — which was then under British mandate — into Jewish and Arab states, with a special international zone for Jerusalem. Zionist leaders accepted the resolution, but it was opposed by Arab states and the Palestinians. Israel declared independence in May 1948, triggering the Arab-Israeli war which was won convincingly by Israel the following year. Around 760,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were expelled — an event known as the 'Nakba,' Arabic for 'catastrophe,' which the United Nations only officially commemorated for the first time in May 2023. In the aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the conflict, including the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. But linguistic ambiguities between the English and French versions of the resolutions complicated matters, making the scope of the required withdrawal unclear. In November 1974, Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), gave his first speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, saying he carried both 'an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun.' Days later, the UN General Assembly recognized the Palestinians' right to self-determination and independence. It granted UN observer status to the PLO as a representative of the Palestinian people. One of the strongest peace initiatives did not come from the United Nations. In 1993, Israel and the PLO — which in 1988 unilaterally declared an independent State of Palestine — wrapped up months of secret negotiations in Norway's capital Oslo. The two sides signed a 'declaration of principles' on Palestinian autonomy and, in 1994, Arafat returned to the Palestinian territories after a long exile and formed the Palestinian Authority, the governing body for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. UN Security Council decisions on how to treat the Palestinians have always depended on the position of the veto-wielding United States. Since 1972, Washington has used its veto more than 30 times to protect its close ally Israel. But sometimes, it allows key resolutions to advance. In March 2002, the Security Council — at Washington's initiative — adopted Resolution 1397, the first to mention a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, with secure and recognized borders. In December 2016, for the first time since 1979, the Council called on Israel to stop building settlements in the Palestinian territories — a measure that went through thanks to a US abstention, just before the end of Barack Obama's White House term. And in March 2024, another US abstention — under pressure from the international community — allowed the Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire amid Israel's offensive on Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the militants' October 7 attack. That measure came after the United States blocked three similar drafts. In 2011, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas initiated the process of requesting membership of the State of Palestine to the UN, which required a positive recommendation from the Security Council, followed by a favorable vote from the General Assembly. In the face of opposition from the United States, the process was halted even before a vote in the Council. The following year, the General Assembly granted the Palestinians a lower status as a 'non-member observer State.' In April 2024, the Palestinians renewed their request to become a full-fledged member state, but the United States vetoed it. If the Palestinian request had cleared the Security Council hurdle, it would have had every chance of being approved by the necessary two-thirds majority in the Assembly. According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. In the absence of full membership, the Assembly granted the Palestinians new rights in 2024, seating them in alphabetical order of states, and allowing to submit resolution proposals themselves for the first time.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Yemen's Houthis threaten to target ships linked to firms dealing with Israeli ports
Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday they would target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities, as part of what they called the fourth phase of their military operations against Israel. In a televised statement, the Houthis' military spokesperson warned that ships would be attacked if companies ignored their warnings, regardless of their destination. 'The Yemeni Armed Forces call on all countries, if they want to avoid this escalation, to pressure the enemy to halt its aggression and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip,' he added. Since Israel's war in Gaza began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships they deem as bound or linked to Israel in what they say are acts of solidarity with Palestinians. In May, the US announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel.
