NEW YORK: The Middle East is “on the cusp of a historic peace,” Israel’s prime minister said on Friday, referring to US-brokered efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
Addressing the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu said he believes Israel and Saudi Arabia are close to a “dramatic breakthrough” that would not only secure peace between the two states but “transform” the entire region and create “a new Middle East.”
He added: “Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and will encourage other Arab states to normalize their relations with Israel while also enhancing the prospects of peace with the Palestinians.”
Should an agreement be finalized, it would build on the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 between Israel on one hand and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan on the other.
Speaking two days after meeting US President Joe Biden in New York, Netanyahu said he felt that the Biden administration could secure a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the same way that the Trump administration had facilitated the Abraham Accords.
“The Abraham Accords were a pivot of history and today we see the blessings, with trade and investment with our new peace partners booming as our nations cooperate in commerce, energy, water and agriculture, climate and many other fields,” Netanyahu added.
“In the G20 conference, President Biden, (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, and European and Arab leaders announced plans for a visionary corridor that will stretch across the Arabian Peninsula and into Israel.
“It will connect India to Europe with maritime, railroads, energy pipelines, fiber optic cables. This corridor will bypass maritime checkpoints, or choke points rather, and dramatically lower the cost of goods, communication and energy for over 2 billion people.”
However, he warned that the progress made in recent years could be undone by a “fly in the ointment,” saying Iran continues to spend significant amounts on its military and has made efforts to extend its influence worldwide.
“Iran’s aggression is largely met by indifference in the international community, and despite Western powers pledging that they’d snap back sanctions if Iran violated the nuclear deal, that hasn’t been the case,” he added.
“Iran is violating the deal, but the sanctions intended to stop its nuclear ambitions haven’t been re-imposed.
“This policy must change, the sanctions must be snapped back, and above all, Iran must face a credible nuclear threat.”
Mideast ‘on cusp of historic peace’: Israeli PM
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Mideast ‘on cusp of historic peace’: Israeli PM
- Israel, Saudi Arabia close to ‘dramatic breakthrough’ that would ‘transform’ region
- Netanyahu: ‘Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict’
Hezbollah warns Israelis to stay away from army in residential areas
- After almost a year of cross-border fire, Israel has increased its strikes on what it says are Lebanese militant group Hezbollah sites since September 23
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Friday warned Israelis to stay away from Israeli army sites in residential areas in the north of the country.
“The Israeli enemy army uses the homes” of Israelis in north Israel, and has military bases inside residential “neighborhoods in major occupied cities such as Haifa, Tiberias, Acre,” it said in a statement in Arabic and Hebrew.
It warned Israelis “from being near these military gatherings in order to preserve their lives.”
After almost a year of cross-border fire, Israel has increased its strikes on what it says are Lebanese militant group Hezbollah sites since September 23.
The escalation has killed more than 1,200 people and displaced around a million from their homes.
Hezbollah has repeatedly announced it has fired rockets at areas in northern Israel.
Many Palestinian camps in Lebanon ‘empty after Israeli strikes’
- Israel has ramped up strikes across southern Lebanon and on Beirut’s once-densely populated southern suburbs
BEIRUT: Most Palestinian refugees living in camps in southern Lebanon or near Beirut have fled following escalating Israeli strikes, the head of the UN agency on Palestine refugees said on Friday, drawing parallels with mass displacement in Gaza.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that the agency continued to provide services to the most vulnerable left behind — and that repeatedly fleeing was sadly “part of the history” of Palestinians. “Now, that’s part, unfortunately, of the plight, but if you compare it with what happened also in Gaza recently, you might have heard me describing how people are constantly being moved like pinballs. And one of the fears is that we replicate a situation similar to the one we have seen until now in Gaza,” he said.
Israel has ramped up strikes across southern Lebanon and on Beirut’s once-densely populated southern suburbs over the last three weeks, issuing evacuation warnings for more than 100 towns in southern Lebanon and neighborhoods near the capital.
They include evacuation warnings and strikes on the Burj Al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near the south coastal city of Tyre. Many of the Palestinians who arrived in Lebanon after Israel’s creation in 1948, and their descendants, were living in 12 refugee camps around the country, which hosted about 174,000 Palestinian refugees.
Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA staff of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza, leading many donors to suspend funding.
The UN launched an investigation into Israel’s accusations and dismissed nine staff.
In July, the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that would declare UNRWA a “terrorist organization.”
Asked about the move, Lazzarini said the agency “has never, ever been as much under assault and attack.”
“A year ago, it was primarily a financial existential threat, but today it’s a combination of a political and financial threat. 2025 will be, again, a difficult year,” he said. He said he would have more clarity early next year on whether the US would resume funding.
Gaza civil defense agency says 30 killed in Israeli strikes in Jabalia on Friday
- A strike that occurred before 9:40 p.m. local time had left “12 dead, including women and children“
GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency Friday said at least 30 people have been killed by Israeli strikes throughout the day in northern Gaza’s Jabalia town and refugee camp amid intense combat operations by the Israeli army in the area.
The agency’s spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said that a strike that occurred before 9:40 p.m. local time (1840 GMT) had left “12 dead, including women and children” in the town.
Before that incident, Ahmad Kahlout — director of the agency in northern Gaza — said 18 people had been killed by several strikes, including hits on “eight schools” in the camp that were serving as shelters for displaced people.
Baghdad reinvents itself as heritage tourism destination
- A professor and an architecture student organize walking tours of Iraqi capital’s historic sites
RIYADH: After decades of war, airstrikes, suicide attacks and car bombs, Baghdad is staking its claim as a heritage tourism attraction.
A fragile stability has emerged since the defeat of Daesh in 2017 allowed a greater focus on the Iraqi capital’s history and culture.
Muaffaq Al-Tai, 83, a professor, and Abdullah Imad, 23, an architecture student, organize walking tours of the city’s historic center, including an 800-year-old Abbasid palace with arabesque reliefs and the battlements of the 12th-century Bab Al-Wastani, the Central Gate.
“We want to show the public what Baghdad has to offer in terms of Islamic architecture, its value and identity,” Imad said
The renewed interest in Iraq’s heritage was “a source of hope for a positive change in our identity, and our heritage and its preservation,” said Fatima Al-Moqdad, 28, an architect.
“When young people surf the internet, they see how other nations look after their heritage. They want and deserve the same.”
Israel army says sirens sound north of Tel Aviv due to ‘aircraft infiltration’
- Roughly 20 minutes after the alert, Israel’s military said the incident had ended.
- The air raid sirens came as Israelis observe the Yom Kippur holiday
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Friday said air raid sirens sounded in central Israel, including areas north of the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, after an aircraft infiltrated.
“Sirens have been activated in several areas in central Israel following an intrusion of hostile aircraft. Interception attempts have been made, and details are under investigation. Additional explosions may be heard, originating from interceptions or debris,” the military said in a statement.
Roughly 20 minutes after the alert, Israel’s military said the incident had ended.
The air raid sirens came as Israelis observe the Yom Kippur holiday.
Earlier Friday evening, air raid sirens blared in dozens of areas across northwestern after dozens of projectiles were fired from Lebanon, the military said.
From sundown on Friday until nightfall on Saturday, markets are closed, flights stopped and public transport halted as most Jews fast and pray on the Day of Atonement.
Due to its status as Judaism’s holiest day, Yom Kippur is traditionally observed with a complete media silence during the period.
Media outlets, however, have pledged to cover major developments or updates, as Israel fights Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas Palestinians militants in Gaza.
