Israel demands condemnation from World Health Organisation after hospital strike
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Iran's supreme leader "can no longer be allowed to exist" after a hospital in Israel was hit by an Iranian missile on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would "pay a heavy price" for the strike.
Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba was left in flames by a bombardment that Iran said was intended to target a military and intelligence base.
Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, demanded a condemnation from the UN in a video on X filmed outside the World Health Organisation's headquarters.
Israel has repeatedly bombed healthcare facilities in Gaza, which include 36 hospitals. WHO said that at least 94 percent of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed.
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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.
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
Over 900 killed in Iran during 12-day war with Israel: state media
30 June 2025 15:22 TEHRAN (AFP)At least 935 people were killed in Iran during its 12-day war with Israel, Iranian state media reported 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.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
UN chief calls for more spending on development aid as US snubs Spanish conference
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged the international community to "rev up the engine of development" aid in "a world shaken by inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts". Nations gathered on Monday in Seville for a UN conference were told both by host Spain and senior UN officials to spend more on development aid, but a last-minute US withdrawal from the conference raised doubts about their ability to narrow the gap between rich and poor countries. The withdrawal of the US, previously a major contributor, was not directly addressed by officials, though they acknowledged difficulties in convincing countries to spend more to narrow the $4 trillion annual financing gap to promote development. Opening the conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said delegates were gathered "to accelerate investment" faced with the "massive headwinds" buffeting the sector. Those challenges included "a slowing economy; rising trade tensions and decimated aid budgets; a world shaken by inequalities; climate chaos and raging conflicts", he said. Mr Guterres added: "The link between peace and development is clear. Nine of the 10 countries with the lowest Human Development Indicators are currently in a state of conflict." The four-day meeting in southern Spain is taking place as many countries face escalating debt burdens, declining investments, decreasing international aid and increasing trade barriers. The director general of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the introduction of trade tariffs - a policy strongly pushed by US President Donald Trump - would lead to the further contraction of trade forecasts from close to 3 per cent for 2025 to 0.1 per cent. "We currently estimate that global merchandise trade volumes will basically be flat," Ms Okonjo-Iweala said. "I don't think that the conference has ever gathered in such difficult times." Up to $2 trillion are locked up in " harmful subsidies," according to Ms Okonjo-Iweala, including fisheries and fossil fuels that could be used instead to help achieve the badly lagging 2030 Sustainable Developments Goals. "Recognising the political difficulties involved in phasing out subsidies - I know this is not easy," she said. Official development assistance "remains stagnant or declining", UN Under-Secretary General Li Junhua said. "External debt servicing now consumes over 20 per cent of the public revenues in many lower income countries." Risks of tighter financing conditions for developing countries are growing, warned IMF deputy managing director Nigel Clarke. Countries must prioritise strong domestic reforms. "Many countries can boost resources available to them by broadening the tax base and improving compliance," Mr Clarke said. Meanwhile, King of Spain Felipe VI said he hoped the conference would be a success. "The tremendous shifts that we are living through heading towards a new form of geopolitics cannot and must not lead to a total revision of the rule of law or solidarity of human dignity of the world," he said. More than 70 world leaders were expected in Seville, along with several thousand others from international financial institutions, development banks, philanthropic organizations, the private sector and civil society. At its last preparatory meeting on June 17, the US rejected the 38-page outcome document that had been negotiated for months by the UN's 193 member nations and announced its withdrawal from the process and from the Seville conference. Speaking last week, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the US withdrawal from the conference was 'unfortunate,' stressing that 'many of the recommendations you see cannot be pursued without a continuous engagement with the US'. After Seville, "we will engage again with the US and hope that we can make the case that they be part of the success of pulling millions of people out of poverty'. The rest of the countries then approved the document by consensus and sent it to Seville, where it is expected to be adopted by conference participants without changes. It will be known as the Seville Commitment – or Compromiso de Sevilla in Spanish. The document says the leaders and high-level representatives have decided to launch 'an ambitious package of reforms and actions to close the financing gap with urgency,' saying it is now estimated at $4 trillion a year. Among the proposals and actions, it calls for minimum tax revenue of 15 per cent of a country's gross domestic product to increase government resources, a tripling of lending by multilateral development banks, and scaling up private financing by providing incentives for investing in critical areas like infrastructure. It also calls for a number of reforms to help countries deal with rising debt. While the US objected to many actions in the outcome document, American diplomat Jonathan Shrier told the June 17 meeting: 'Our commitment to international cooperation and long-term economic development remains steadfast.'
