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SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

‘Remember October 7’: Signs flooded New York ahead of Netanyahu speech

Big signs were placed throughout New York City in front of the UN building and in Times Square, reading “Remember October 7”.

Dozens of media trucks with similar signage have also been travelling throughout the city.

According to the Israeli prime minister’s office, the posters were placed in anticipation of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “historic speech” at the UN General Assembly, which recently finished.


Midtown Manhattan near the UN’s General Assembly


‘You’re not welcome’: Pro-Palestinian protesters take to New York’s streets

Despite the US administration’s unwavering support for Israel’s war on Gaza, more than 84 percent of Americans support a ceasefire.

That sentiment was reflected in New York City’s Times Square, where a huge crowd of demonstrators took to the street to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu.

Nas Issa, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said the demonstration wants to deliver one message to the Israeli prime minister: “He is not welcome to New York City and it is unconscionable that elected officials … are rolling the red carpet for him.”

“We are a transnational group of Palestinian and Arab Jews fighting for the liberation of our homeland and an end to this genocide, and we are surrounded by thousands of New Yorkers who share that struggle with us and are here to demand an arms embargo and demand real consequences for Israel’s genocide against Palestinians,” Issa told Al Jazeera.


People demonstrate in Times Square during a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City



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SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Israeli PM Netanyahu begins speech at UN General Assembly

Netanyahu has just taken the world’s stage at the UN General Assembly in New York City. Dozens of people left the room as he took the podium. Others greeted him with applause.


What did Netanyahu say in his UNGA speech?

Here are a few takeaways:

  • Netanyahu started listing Israel’s regional attacks and assassinations conducted over the past two years, claiming he has reshaped the Middle East. He mentioned targeting Hezbollah’s leaders, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas leaders and Iranian scientists.
  • The prime minister then made an address directly to the captives in Gaza – after the Israeli army set up speakers along the Gaza fence to blast his speech – saying “we will not rest until we bring all of you home”.
  • Netanyahu credited Israeli and US forces for crippling Iran’s military capabilities during a 12-day war in June that killed and wounded thousands of people, including many civilians.
  • He promised to continue fighting Hamas in Gaza: “We are not done yet”.
  • Netanyahu also said that while countries publicly condemn Israel, they “privately thank us”.
  • He once again rejected a UN inquiry that said Israel is committing genocide and denied that Israel is causing starvation inside the Strip.
  • The decision by world leaders to recognise a Palestinian state, including France and the UK, sent “a very clear message that murdering Jews pays off”, he said.


Netanyahu’s speech at UN highlights widening gap between Israel and world

The mass departure of delegates at the UN General Assembly as Netanyahu took the floor highlights the widening gap between Israel and the international community, says Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“It was heartbreaking to see how isolated Israelis are internationally … it showed the huge gap between Israel and the rest of the world and between the Jewish world and the rest of the world. So it was a very difficult scene to watch,” Liel told Al Jazeera.

According to Liel, Netanyahu wanted to deliver the clear message that Israel is not interested in peace with the Palestinians.

“But this is the biggest mistake that he makes because the consensus today behind a Palestinian state is growing, and there is international determination behind it, so it is only stressing how far away we are from the international community."



SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Israel is ‘going ahead with plan to depopulate Gaza’

Israel’s loudspeakers surrounding Gaza and broadcasting Netanyahu’s speech were meant for the captives. But for Palestinians trapped in Gaza City, Israel’s bombs did not stop falling.

During the speech, there were multiple blasts going off that could be heard from where we’re reporting. That’s about 15km (seven miles) away. There’s dark smoke rising into the sky.

About a quarter into it, Palestinians gave up listening to Netanyahu’s speech because he did not address what they wanted to hear on this genocide. He did not mention the ongoing mass displacement, forced dehydration and starvation, and the bombardment and destruction of an entire city.

This speech was widely perceived as a justification for Israel’s genocidal acts on the ground, or promoting for further such acts in the coming days as the Israeli military pushes deeper into and encircles Gaza City.

They’re going ahead with the plan to depopulate Gaza.



Israeli attacks across Gaza kill 58 since dawn

That’s according to medical sources at hospitals in Gaza who have spoken to Al Jazeera. Among those killed are 30 people in Gaza City alone, where Israeli forces have stepped up a brutal assault. Another 12 are hungry aid seekers who were attempting to obtain meagre food parcels in central and southern Gaza, the sources said.


Former senior UN official points out juxtaposition of Netanyahu speech and Trump’s optimism on deal

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Martin Griffiths, the former UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said that Netanyahu’s focus on fighting in Gaza did not fit in with US President Trump’s apparent optimism that a deal to end the war was close.

‘Benjamin Netanyahu has one virtue … and that is he tells us exactly what he thinks … [his speech] didn’t give any hope, any indication of a deal,” said Griffiths, who now heads Mediation Group International. “On the contrary, it laid out all the conditions for a continuing war.”

“Now, either Mr Trump wasn’t listening to that speech, or he hadn’t been informed in advance … but he seemed to be picking up what [US special envoy] Steve Witkoff said the other day about ‘we are close to a deal’.”

“So I don’t know what that means, I hope that we’ll find out on Monday when Prime Minister Netanyahu is in Washington,” Griffiths added. “But for today, whether he says that or not in the White House, we have a classic example of Israeli intransigence. It’s an affront, that speech. It’s an affront to the international conscience … and it’s a death sentence for the people of Palestine."



SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Netanyahu’s rhetoric at UN ‘falls flat’

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s latest UN address was likely to have been received “badly” globally, and probably even “alienated” Western allies.

“There is a total rejection of Netanyahu’s tone,” Bishara said. He argued that Netanyahu’s confrontational approach undermined allies who had recently recognised Palestinian statehood after “30 years of failed peace process”.

Bishara described the Israeli leader’s rhetoric as outdated and repetitive, adding that Netanyahu was “recycling old sound bites” that were not working out anymore.

“They fall flat … and the only people who would clap for him are his minions,” he said. “I think he got the wrong stack today. This is a speech that you give to Congress, not a speech you give to the United Nations, where people know what Israel’s crimes are.”



War crime upon war crime’ unfolding in Gaza, occupied West Bank: UN rights chief

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has described the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the occupied West Bank as “absolutely horrific”.

“If you look at all the statements I’ve made … I speak about Gaza almost every week,” Turk told the Council on Foreign Relations meeting when responding to a question about neglect of the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.

“War crime upon war crime, crime against humanity upon crime against humanity.”

He reiterated that the international community must focus on immediate steps to halt the suffering, including an urgent ceasefire and the release of captives.

“The solution is clear: We need a ceasefire. We need the release of all hostages, and I believe we need a path for peace,” he added.


UN still facing Israeli ‘obstacles, impediments’ to delivering much-needed aid in Gaza

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has reiterated that Palestinians in famine-struck Gaza are starving.

“We’re still facing these terrible obstacles, impediments to delivering aid, coming from the Israeli authorities,” Fletcher told Al Jazeera.

While there have been cases of looting on the ground by “desperate, starving, civilians”, the majority of aid trucks are still being blocked from entering the Strip. That contradicts Netanyahu’s comments earlier at the UN, implying that Israel was not starving Gaza, but instead feeding the people of the Palestinian enclave.

“We can reach hundreds of thousands of people if we have a genuine commitment to end the starvation,” Fletcher said.

He reiterated that UN bodies have to work in a “neutral, principled, humanitarian way”.

“We should have access everywhere, we shouldn’t have to ask for access,” Fletcher said. “No one can do this at the scale that we can,” he added.

A ceasefire is “absolutely paramount to anything else”.


Palestinian boy starves to death in central Gaza

A 17-year-old boy has died from Israeli-induced starvation and lack of treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, a medical source told Al Jazeera. Doctors say the boy’s death underscores the worsening humanitarian and health crisis amid Israel’s ongoing siege and genocidal war on the enclave.

There have been at least 440 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The figure includes 147 children.



SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Hamas: ‘War criminal’ Netanyahu sabotaging truce, captives’ release

Hamas issued a statement responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly, a speech it noted was “boycotted by the majority of delegations” and delivered by a man wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The group accused Netanyahu of preaching about justice while daily violating it in Gaza, and dismissed his repeated denials of mass killings, forced displacement and systematic starvation as lies that cannot erase the facts documented by international reports.

Hamas blamed Netanyahu personally for sabotaging ceasefire negotiation efforts in Qatar, and said his public posturing over Israeli captives is hypocritical while he continues a “brutal” assault on Gaza.

It also rejected Netanyahu’s talk of seizing control of Gaza or installing a “puppet” government there, calling those plans “an illusion”.

The statement concluded by reaffirming that an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is “an inalienable right” that Israel’s actions cannot erase.


UNRWA chief says agency under attack as Gaza reels from famine, blockade

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that nearly two years of “appalling disregard for life and international law” in the occupied Palestinian territory have led to famine in Gaza, deepening annexation in the West Bank, and a crisis for the UN system itself.

He said at least 370 UNRWA staff have been killed and most of the agency’s facilities in Gaza destroyed, while supplies to sustain the enclave’s population for three months have been blocked since March.

Lazzarini also decried a “well-funded disinformation campaign spearheaded by Israel” to delegitimise UNRWA and choke its funding, warning the agency faces a shortfall of more than $200m by early 2026.

He urged member states to demand an immediate ceasefire, push back against the weaponisation of aid, and safeguard UNRWA’s mandate to protect millions of Palestinian refugees.


MSF suspends activities in Gaza City amid Israeli assault

Doctors without Borders (MSF) says it has been forced to suspend lifesaving medical work in Gaza City as Israeli tanks and air strikes close in on its clinics, creating an “unacceptable level of risk” for staff and patients

“Our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces … this is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous,” said Jacob Granger, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza.

The group said its facilities carried out more than 3,640 consultations last week alone, including for malnutrition, trauma injuries and maternal care, but that Israel’s escalating assault has made operations impossible.

MSF warned that hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in Gaza City, unable to leave, while hospitals across the enclave are overwhelmed and deprived of supplies, fuel and staff.



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SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Canada, 20 allies call for protection of journalists in Gaza

Canada and 20 other countries have issued a joint statement, urging the protection of journalists in the Gaza Strip and calling on Israel to allow foreign media access to the enclave.

“On September 24, during the High-Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly, France, along with Reporters Without Borders, organized an event dedicated to the situation of journalists in Gaza. At the end of this event, this statement was endorsed by 21 countries,” it said.

The statement, released by Global Affairs Canada, was endorsed by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

Countries noted that they met with civil society groups “to discuss the protection of journalists in Gaza and access to information”.

Israeli air strikes in Gaza occur ‘every eight or nine minutes’: UN

“Israeli forces have stepped up their operations over the past 24 hours, with devastating consequences for civilians,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference, citing the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“On average, this meant an air strike every eight or nine minutes.”

Dujarric said the UN teams monitoring population movement “counted about 16,500 displaced people from northern Gaza to the south” on Thursday alone.

He noted that aid workers remain positioned along displacement routes to provide support, but warned of mounting challenges.

“Aid workers remain stationed along displacement routes, offering psychosocial first aid, referring people to specialised services when needed, and educating new arrivals on the danger of explosive ordinances,” he said.



SvennoJ on 26 September 2025

Main events on September 26th

  • At least 60 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since morning, including 30 people killed in Gaza City alone.
  • A 17-year-old boy has died from starvation as a result of Israeli policies in Gaza, and a lack of available treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, a medical source told Al Jazeera.
  • Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said Friday it had been forced to suspend its work in Gaza City because of the ongoing Israeli offensive there.
  • Dozens of members walked out as Israel’s increasingly isolated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly, promising to continue the war on Gaza.
  • But US President Donald Trump said he was close to forging a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring the captives home, without revealing any details or timetable.
  • Gaza’s Government Media Office said more than 250 journalists have been killed, dozens wounded, and media infrastructure systematically destroyed during the now almost two-year war.

Netanyahu’s UN speech backfires; Caribbean, European nations slam Israel on Gaza


Leaders from Ireland, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Malta and Barbados (PM Mia Mottley) didn’t mince words as they spoke passionately about the plight of Palestinian victims of Israeli war in Gaza. They came to speak after Benjamin Netanyahu but they chose to target Israel with their harshest criticism on the conduct of the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank. Earlier, the Slovenian president has used the UN platform to launch an extraordinary attack on Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu's UN Speech Derailed




“Most Israelis want to see Gaza ethnically cleansed” Israeli genocide scholar Omer Bartov


The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry recently declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in a new report. With more than 60,000 Palestinians killed, calls for accountability and an end to the assault are mounting.

But how is the determination of genocide made? And within Israel itself, how is Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza seen?

This week on an Upfront special Marc Lamont Hill speaks with genocide scholar and professor at Brown University, Omer Bartov.



SvennoJ on 27 September 2025

New Zealand won’t recognise Palestinian state ‘at this time’

Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand won’t recognise a Palestinian state at this time but remains committed to a two-state solution.

“With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future state of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time,” Peters said in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.

“We are also concerned that a focus on recognition, in the current circumstances, could complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire by pushing Israel and Hamas into even more intransigent positions,” Peters added.

However, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in Auckland on Saturday that “recognition of Palestinian statehood is a question of when, not if.”

Peters’ announcement drew condemnation from the opposition party as well as former Prime Minister and UN official Helen Clark, who called it a “day of shame”.

Another Settler colony with their own genocide skeletons in the closet https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol17/iss1/5/

US to revoke Colombia president’s visa over ‘disobey’ Trump

The US Department of State says it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, citing his “reckless and incendiary actions” in relation to a speech he gave to protesters outside the UN headquarters in New York City.

In one video clip, Petro can be heard saying his country plans to present a resolution to the UN seeking to establish an “army for the salvation of the world” whose first job would be the “liberation of Palestine”.



SvennoJ on 27 September 2025

Recognition of Palestine ‘not nearly enough’ for UK protesters in Liverpool

Keir Starmer has gone further than any UK PM has been able or willing to do in recognising Palestine.

But that’s not nearly enough. It’s the bare minimum for the people who have gathered here to protest ahead of the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool. The protesters say that unless you follow that recognition up with proper action to make that state a reality, it means nothing.

They’re also angry at the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. They say this is a massive overreach of government legislative authority and a blow to the right to protest and to free speech.

They want the government to stop arming Israel, to end the starvation in Gaza and to recognise that what’s going on in Palestine is a genocide.

That’s something significant figures within the party have done, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, for example. But the Labour Party leadership has not taken that step yet.


Pro-Palestine protesters at a rally in Liverpool, UK


Deep divisions within UK’s Labour over Gaza ahead of conference

There’s a lot of tension within the Labour movement about Gaza. You basically have government contracts that are still doing business with Israel – defence contracts, diplomatic relations and so forth.

But you have the party membership, and groups closer to the grassroots of the party, that are fiercely opposed to that, and want the government to do more to isolate Israel.

At this upcoming annual Labour conference, you have groups that are saying the government is trying to stifle free speech. You have smaller Labour organisations that are trying to bring motions to be discussed, and the committee that organises the conference has ruled those motions out.

The committee says it’s for technical reasons, but this has further angered the grassroots of the Labour movement that wants the Starmer government to do much, much more than it is currently doing over Gaza.


A protester holds a sign saying ‘Starmer has blood on his hands’ before the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, UK



SvennoJ on 27 September 2025

What is the American 21-point Gaza peace plan about?

As we have been reporting, the United States has presented a 21-point plan for ending the war in Gaza, to Israel and Arab and Muslim leaders. Few details are known but The Times of Israel newspaper reports it’s obtained a copy of the plan:

  • The proposal would encourage Palestinians to remain in Gaza, a shift in the US administration’s stance on the issue, considering that Trump in February touted the idea of taking over the enclave and relocating its population.
  • The plan envisions a pathway to a future Palestinian state that would follow a reform of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and reconstruction of Gaza – another shift as the US has so far refused to back a two-state solution.
  • Until the PA is reformed, Gaza will be governed by a transitional government of Palestinian technocrats supervised by a new international body established by the US in consultation with Arab and European partners.
  • The disarmament of Hamas and demilitarisation of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ruled out the prospect of Palestinian statehood, while Hamas has repeatedly said laying down its arms is a red line.


Hamas says it hasn’t received Trump plan to end Gaza war

Hamas hasn’t received US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, even as the US president expressed optimism that a deal is close.

In comments to reporters on Friday, Trump said, “Tt’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza.” He offered no details of its contents and gave no timetable. Israel has not yet made any public response to Trump’s comments.

A Hamas official, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian group “has not been presented with any plan”.

Trump is due on Monday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads a hard-right governing coalition opposed to ending the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed.