CAIR urges US to impose travel ban on Netanyahu over ICC arrest warrant

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based Muslim advocacy organisation, has called on the US to follow in Slovenia’s footsteps, and issue a travel ban to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.

On Thursday, Slovenia became the first EU state to impose a travel ban on Netanyahu, citing the International Criminal Court arrest warrant and the investigation by the International Court of Justice.

“We commend Slovenia for taking a principled stand in support of international law and human rights by barring Prime Minister Netanyahu from entering its territory while he presides over the genocide in Gaza. This is a necessary step toward accountability and justice,” the advocacy group said in a statement on Thursday.

“We urge the United States and other governments around the world to follow Slovenia’s lead by implementing similar measures until those responsible for crimes against humanity are held accountable.”

The Israeli prime minister had to fly an unusually long route to New York today to avoid the airspace of several European countries due to the ICC arrest warrant.

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna leads call for US to acknowledge Palestinian statehood

A growing list of House Democrats, currently at 46, have signed a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to recognise a Palestinian state, the Guardian reports.

In an interview with Fox News this week Rubio said a Palestinian state can only come through “a negotiation with Israel”, which isn’t possible because of the war on Gaza.

The letter pushing for recognition in the US, led by California Democrat Ro Khanna, said: “Just as the lives of Palestinians must be immediately protected, so too must their rights as a people and nation urgently be acknowledged and upheld.”

It added: “We encourage the governments of other countries that have yet to recognise Palestinian statehood, including the United States, to do so as well.” 

Bolivian president accuses US and Israel of ‘practicing genocide’

Bolivian President Luis Arce has accused Washington of causing pain and death globally and said that a “genocide is currently being practiced by the decision of two countries,” referring to Israel and the US, in Gaza.

“Today, the echoes of war drums are sounding,” Arce said, adding that US President Donald Trump and other powerful sectors in the US have an “obsessive desire” to cause pain and death around the world.

The crimes in Gaza must stop, says Ghana’s president in UNGA address

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has said that countries around the world have been playing “hide and seek with language” to obscure the scale of the devastation in Gaza, during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

He also pointed out that the decision not to issue a visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sets a “dangerous precedent”. Abbas addressed the UNGA via a videolink.

“For nearly two years and for the fear of reprisals, we here in this General Assembly have been playing hide and seek with language to find the right words to help us avoid or excuse what we all know is taking place in Gaza. But here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter what you call it. If it looks like a duck, it swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, well, then it must be a duck,” Mahama told world leaders.

“The crimes in Gaza must stop. The crimes in Gaza must stop.”

Netanyahu stands in way of Abbas’s Gaza governance vision

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, describes the Palestinian Authority president’s address to the UN General Assembly as compelling in its condemnation of Israel’s crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. However, he says the speech failed to address three major issues:

Gaza flotilla poses no threat to Israel: Spanish foreign minister

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has told the Reuters news agency the Global Sumud Flotilla, heading to Gaza and protected by a Spanish military vessel, poses no threat to anyone, including Israel.

In the interview, Albares added that Spain had accepted Belgium’s request to assist Belgian citizens on board the flotilla if needed and was holding conversations with Ireland on the same subject.

Microsoft cuts Israeli military off cloud services over mass surveillance of Palestinians

Microsoft has cut off an Israeli military intelligence unit from its cloud services after discovering the agency was using the platform to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians, the tech giant said on Thursday.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair, said the company opened the review after an investigation by the Guardian newspaper alleged activity by a unit of the Israeli military.

The investigation said that an Israeli military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, used Microsoft’s Azure to store large volumes of mobile phone call recordings from Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.

“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians. We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades,” Smith said in an email to staff.

Microsoft has informed the Israeli defence ministry of its “decision to cease and disable specified IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies.”

The action does not impact Microsoft’s cybersecurity services to Israel and other countries in the Middle East, Smith said.

Microsoft’s decision comes after mounting pressure from employees and investors concerned about the company’s ties to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Muslim countries warned Trump to dangers of Israeli annexation of West Bank: Saudi FM

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has said that Arab and Muslim leaders who met US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made clear their opposition to Israel annexing the occupied West Bank.

“Some countries made very clear to the president the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank and the risk that poses not just to the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all,” he said.

“And I feel confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries.” Israeli officials have repeatedly said they would annex the territory following a wave of European countries joining a global position by recognising a Palestinian state.

According to several US outlets, Trump committed to not allowing Israel to annex the territory.

Trump says he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank

US President Donald Trump has said that he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, which will come as a blow to Netanyahu, who has been signalling that his administration would do so.

Speaking at the Oval Office, Trump said: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. Not going to happen.”

After a reporter asked if Trump spoke to Netanyahu, he responded: “Whether I spoke to him or not, I did, but I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There has been enough, time to stop now”.

The US president’s comments come hours after he reiterated that a Gaza deal was close.

Trump says ‘we can get it done’ on a Gaza deal

US President Donald Trump says he still has to meet with Israeli leaders, but that a deal to end the war in Gaza is close.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that Trump had presented a peace plan to leaders of several Muslim-majority countries in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Main events on September 25th

• Medical sources at Gaza hospitals say at least 57 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since morning across the coastal enclave.
• Seven more hospitals and health facilities in Gaza City were forced to close in recent days because of heavy bombardment.
• Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says at the UN General Assembly debate: “Hamas will not have a role to play in governance”, and it and other armed groups must hand over their weapons. Hamas has condemned Abbas’s call to disarm.
• Abbas pledged to work with US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Nations on a peace plan for Gaza overwhelmingly backed by the world body.
• US President Donald Trump has said that he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. He said a deal on Gaza was close.
• Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has said that Arab and Muslim leaders who met US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made clear their opposition to Israel annexing the occupied West Bank. The Saudi foreign minister announced $90m fund to help support the Palestinian Authority.
• At least eight people have been killed in the Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, according to the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV.

Israel FURIOUS As Italy, Spain Deploy Navy to Protect Aid Flotilla

Krystal and Ryan discuss Italy and Spain sending military ships to assist the Gaza aid flotillas.

"Itali's PM Melon is just as Pro-Israel as US political leaders, BUT the Italian Dock Workers Union threatened to go on strike if the flotilla is attacked, and they did just that. They are the ones who forced Meloni to act."

Netanyahu hit by setbacks; FiFA, UEFA consider banning Israel; Slovenia acts

Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday left for New York amidst a series of setbacks. First Slovenia became the first EU country to announce that it will arrest the Israeli PM if he entered its territory. Then he did not use the airspace of France and Portugal since both these countries have now recognised the State of Palestine, much to the discomfort of Netanyahu.

But the biggest setback has come from the world of football where both the FIFA and the UEFA are now considering banning Israeli teams from all competitions after the UN presented a damning report on the Israeli conduct in Gaza. Rifat Jawaid explores the potential impact on Israel.

‘NUKE THEM’: Israeli Spy Says The Quiet Part Loud In DISTURBING Tell All

Mass influx of displaced Palestinians in central Gaza

We continue to see waves of displacement unfolding from Gaza City to the southern and central parts of Gaza, as Israel expands its attacks by warplanes and infantry.

Israel initially instructed families to move to the so-called “humanitarian safe zone” of al-Mawasi in the south. But as everyone knows, this area is extremely overcrowded, and the humanitarian infrastructure there can’t meet the demands of the population.

That’s why we’ve seen a modified Israeli stance telling people to move to central Gaza, which is where we are now.

This is a place that has received a mass influx of families. They are struggling to find refuge and are living next to buildings destroyed by Israeli warplanes. There’s no sign of humanitarian infrastructure – no water wells, no aid centres, no healthcare facilities.

People are living in flimsy tents in the searing heat. Some are sleeping in the open with their personal belongings scattered everywhere. They are completely vulnerable.

‘Nowhere else to run’: Life in Gaza City going from ‘bad to worse’

Gaza City was again hit in multiple locations by Israeli forces at about midnight. One air raid hit near a market area at Shati refugee camp, just north from where we are.

Some survivors told us dozens of Palestinians are still trapped under the rubble. Civil defence teams are struggling to rescue them because of a severe lack of equipment. The situation is going from bad to worse here during the ongoing, unprecedented Israeli escalation of attacks.

In a separate bombing, a drone hit the Remal neighbourhood, with at least one Palestinian confirmed killed and dozens wounded. At al-Shifa Hospital, the conditions for hundreds of patients are growing more dire by the day.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen a significant advancement of Israeli ground forces from the south of Gaza City. This comes as troops also move into the city’s centre from the northeast and northwest.

Many people have chosen to stay. As I spoke with them, they said they can’t afford the high cost of transport to relocate to the vastly overcrowded south of Gaza. Palestinians told me they have nowhere else to run.

No place in Gaza is beyond the reach of Israeli attacks.

_{Palestinians flee northern Gaza to the overcrowded south and central areas}

One killed, several wounded in Israeli air attack on Gaza City

One Palestinian has been killed and others injured in an Israeli attack on a house in war-ravaged Gaza City. A medical source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera the air strike hit the Remal neighbourhood in the western part of Gaza’s main urban centre.

Residential buildings continue to be flattened as Israel presses ahead with its plan to seize the enclave’s largest city.


_{alestinian children react at the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City}

Death toll in Gaza since dawn rises to 29

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since dawn, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera.

As we reported earlier, 11 of those killed – including two children – were aid seekers in central Gaza, while at least two others were killed when Israeli forces struck a house in Gaza City’s Remal neighbourhood without warning.

Gaza civilians suffering combat-level wounds: Study

Civilians in Gaza are sustaining injuries of the type and scale usually suffered among soldiers involved in intense combat, new research says.

A study published in the British Medical Journal found some types of wounds – such as burns or injuries to legs – are more common among civilians in Gaza than among US soldiers fighting in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Injured civilians in Gaza are experiencing a pattern of wounds that you would expect in intense combat with military professionals. The distribution and nature [of injuries] is almost the same or worse,” said Bilal Irfan, a bioethicist who conducts research at the University of Michigan and one of the study’s authors.

Other findings:

Oxfam ‘deeply appalled’ by Israeli killing of aid worker and her children in Gaza

British charity Oxfam says it is mourning the death of a psychologist who worked for one of its partner organisations in Gaza, who was killed with her children in an Israeli attack.

Oxfam said in a statement that the 27-year-old woman, Tasneem, was killed with her two children, aged five and three, in an Israeli air attack on September 20, in which her husband was critically injured. Tasneem, who was pregnant at the time, had lost a son in an Israeli attack last year.

“Tasneem was a courageous and devoted humanitarian. Despite constant danger, she served those in desperate need to the end,”  said Dr Umiayeh Khammash, director of Juzoor for Health and Community Development, the Oxfam partner organisation where Tasneem worked.

The statement said two other Oxfam partner organisations had also had their premises destroyed in attacks by Israel in recent days. The office of the women’s association Al Ataa and a Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) clinic were hit on Monday, while the PMRS’s main medical centre was destroyed on Wednesday.

Ruth James, Oxfam’s regional humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, said the attacks were just some of the hundreds of Israeli strikes on aid workers. “Aid workers must never be targets,” she said.

‘Killing is everywhere’: 11 aid seekers, including 2 children, dead

The Israeli military has issued a new evacuation order in the vicinity of Gaza City’s Remal neighbourhood, instructing families to move to the south of the Strip.

People describe the road leading south as “the road of pain”. They’re leaving behind their houses, their dreams, their memories, and moving to an uncertain future. We’ve been talking to families who are making the journey on foot because they can’t afford the high cost of transport.

They are asking: “Where can we go?”

In the Netzarim Corridor, just 1km (0.6 miles) from our location, 11 Palestinians, including two children, were killed and 18 wounded while trying to access food supplies distributed by the controversial GHF.

Also, in the past hour, Israel struck a group of Palestinians in the western area of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Killing is everywhere – not just in Gaza City but elsewhere in the Strip. People are simply moving from one front line to another.

_{A boy carried the body of a man killed while trying to receive aid near a distribution centre operated by the US-Israel-backed GHF in Netzarim, in August}

Gaza death toll since dawn rises to 47

At least 47 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera.

Among the victims were 28 people killed in Gaza City where Israel’s army has launched a ground invasion and ramped up its bombardment in an effort to capture and occupy the territory’s main urban centre.

_{Palestinian children escape from a building hit by an Israeli attack}