NEW YORK CITY: A top UN official on Friday condemned ongoing violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, urged all parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws, and called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza.
During a meeting of the Security Council, the third this week on events in the region, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Sigrid Kaag, also condemned the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and warned that continuing violations of Security Council Resolution 2334 are damaging the prospects for a two-state solution.
Adopted in 2016, Resolution 2334 calls for “immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction,” along with the reversal of “negative trends on the ground that are imperiling the two-state solution.”
In a report presented to the council, Kaag said Israeli authorities have approved about 10,600 new housing units in settlements, including 4,920 in East Jerusalem, despite the resolution’s demand for a halt to such activities.
Her report also highlighted a sharp increase in seizures and demolitions of Palestinian-owned properties. It said that during the reporting period, from Dec. 7, 2024, to March 13, 2025, at least 460 structures were destroyed, displacing 576 Palestinians, including nearly 300 children.
Such actions have been strongly criticized by the UN as a violation of international law, and Kaag reiterated that they undermine hopes for a viable Palestinian state.
“Unfortunately, the high number of fatal incidents across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel precludes me from detailing all,” she continued.
The situation in Gaza continues to be dire, Kaag said, with the UN confirming that at least 3,860 Palestinians were killed during the reporting period, and about 6,000 injured. The humanitarian crisis in the war-battered enclave remains “catastrophic,” as Israeli authorities have halted the entry of essential goods and supplies. Access to clean water is restricted for more than half a million people there, and the already fragile health infrastructure has been severely affected.
Kaag reiterated that the provision of humanitarian aid “is not negotiable” and deliveries must be allowed to reach those in need. She strongly condemned the blocking of aid to Gaza by Israeli authorities, as well as “the widespread killing” and wounding of civilians, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” she said.
Kaag also condemned “indiscriminate attacks and the use of human shields” by Hamas, and stressed that all parties involved must “respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
She called for the immediate release of the 59 remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, 24 of whom are alive and 35 dead.
“Palestinian armed groups continued to hold hostages in horrific conditions, and fired rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” said Kaag. “Hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
“I strongly condemn the reported ill-treatment of hostages. I remain appalled that there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages may be subjected to sexual violence and abuse. I also reiterate my condemnation of Hamas’s abhorrent public displays accompanying the release of living and deceased hostages.”
Kaag also condemned the reported ill-treatment, including sexual abuse, of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities and said that when detainees are released, this must also be carried out in a dignified way.
Violence in the West Bank continues to escalate, with Israeli military operations and settler-related violence contributing to rising casualty figures. At least 123 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed. Meanwhile, 10 Israelis, including children, have lost their lives in attacks by Palestinians. Rising tensions within Palestinian refugee camps, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem, have resulted in the widespread displacement of occupants and the demolition of homes.
“The escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank is deeply troubling,” Kaag said. “Alongside the rising death toll, Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank are being emptied and sustaining massive infrastructure damage during Israeli operations.”
Kaag rejected any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from the occupied territories, warning that such action amounts to “a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
She condemned violence on both sides of the conflict and called for a policy of “maximum restraint” from the security forces. Lethal force must only be used when “strictly unavoidable to protect life,” she added.
Kaag also expressed alarm over ongoing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, some of which have occurred with the support of Israeli security forces.
In addition, she voiced concern about the ongoing Israeli efforts to undermine the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides vital aid and services to Palestinian refugees.
In her closing remarks, she emphasized the need for a political process within which to resolve the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“We must work collectively to establish a political framework that outlines tangible, irreversible and time-bound steps,” she said.
“A viable two-state solution — Israel and Palestine, of which Gaza is an integral part, living side-by-side in peace and security — is long overdue.”
UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries
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UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries
- Middle East peace envoy Sigrid Kaag denounces settlement expansions; says ‘nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people’
- She calls on Hamas to release remaining hostages; warns both sides to respect obligations under international humanitarian and human rights laws
Two Israelis, one pregnant, wounded in occupied West Bank: authorities
- Bruchin is an Israeli settlement built on West Bank land without the Israeli authorities’ approval which was retroactively legalized by the Israeli government
JERUSALEM: Two Israeli civilians including a pregnant woman were wounded on Wednesday when shots were fired at their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli authorities.
An Israeli army statement said “a terrorist opened fire on an Israeli vehicle” near Bruchin, an Israeli settlement in the center of the Palestinian territory considered illegal under international law.
“Two Israeli civilians were wounded” in the attack and are being treated, the statement added.
The Beilinson hospital said a woman taken there was pregnant.
“Medical teams are currently fighting in the traumatology ward to save the life of the woman and that of her fetus,” a hospital spokesperson said.
Emergency services had earlier said the woman driver, who was aged about 30, was “in a critical state with gunshot wounds.”
A male passenger around the age of 40 was “in a grave state,” emergency services added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “deeply shocked by the horrific terrorist attack against a woman in advanced pregnancy and her husband.”
“This abhorrent incident precisely reflects the difference between us, who desire and bring life, and the reprehensible terrorists, whose goal is to kill us and destroy life,” he said in the statement released by his office.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the West Bank has seen an upsurge in violence.
Bruchin is an Israeli settlement built on West Bank land without the Israeli authorities’ approval which was retroactively legalized by the Israeli government.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law.
US-backed aid group to start work in Gaza by end of May
- The newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will instead distribute aid in Gaza from so-called secure distribution sites
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON: A US-backed humanitarian organization said on Wednesday that it would launch operations in Gaza by the end of May and has asked Israel to allow aid to start flowing into the enclave now under existing procedures until it is set up.
No humanitarian aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation, a quarter of the enclave’s population. Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, aid deliveries have been handled by international aid groups and UN organizations.
The newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will instead distribute aid in Gaza from so-called secure distribution sites, but said Israel’s current plan to only allow a few such sites in southern Gaza needed to be scaled up to include the north.
“GHF emphasizes that a successful humanitarian response must eventually include the entire civilian population in Gaza,” the foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, wrote in a letter to the Israeli government.
“GHF respectfully requests that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) identify and deconflict sufficient locations in northern Gaza capable of hosting GHF operated secure distribution sites that can be made operational within thirty days,” he wrote.
He asked Israel to facilitate the flow of enough aid “using existing modalities” until GHF’s distribution infrastructure is fully operational, saying this is essential to “alleviate the ongoing humanitarian pressure, as well as decrease the pressure on the distribution sites during our first days of operation.”
US security firm UG Solutions and US-based Safe Reach Solutions, which does logistics and planning, would be involved in the foundation’s operations, said a source familiar with the plans, speaking on condition of anonymity.
UN, AID GROUPS CONCERNED
Following the GHF announcement, the International Committee of the Red Cross said concerns about aid distribution remained.
“Humanitarian aid should not be politicized nor militarized. The level of need among civilians in Gaza right now is overwhelming, and aid needs to be allowed to enter immediately and without impediment,” said ICRC spokesperson Steve Dorsey.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the Palestinian militant group denies, and is blocking humanitarian deliveries until Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said earlier on Wednesday that Israel endorsed what he called “the American humanitarian plan.” Israel’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wood’s letter.
Iran says to hold nuclear talks with Europeans this week
- Friday’s meeting will follow the latest round of Oman-mediated Iran-US talks on Sunday, which Tehran described as ‘difficult but useful’
TEHRAN: Iran will hold a fresh round of nuclear talks with European powers in Turkiye later this week, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The talks with Britain, France and Germany would be held in Istanbul on Friday, ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
French diplomatic sources gave the same information, but there was still no word from Berlin or London on the meeting which was originally slated for earlier this month but postponed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the talks would be held “at the level of deputy foreign ministers.”
The European nations — known as the E3 — were among the world powers that negotiated the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal along with China, Russia and the United States.
Donald Trump, in his first term as president, effectively torpedoed the accord in 2018 by unilaterally withdrawing the US.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails.
Iran has held several discreet meetings on the nuclear agenda with the E3 since late last year — most recently in February in Geneva — ahead of indirect negotiations with Washington that began on April 12.
“While we continue the dialogue with the United States, we are also ready to talk with the Europeans,” Araghchi said.
“Unfortunately, the Europeans themselves have become somewhat isolated in these negotiations with their own policies,” he added, without elaborating.
“We do not want such a situation and that’s why we have continued our negotiations” with them, he said.
Friday’s meeting will follow the latest round of Oman-mediated Iran-US talks on Sunday, which Tehran described as “difficult but useful” while a US official said Washington was “encouraged.”
Iran and the United States have so far held four rounds of talks, the highest-level contact in years between the long-time foes, since the US abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
European governments are currently weighing whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 deal, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance — an option that expires in October.
On Tuesday, Trump criticized Iran’s leadership, regional role, alleged mismanagement, and threatened to slash its oil exports if nuclear talks fail.
“Iran’s leaders have focused on stealing their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad,” said Trump at a Saudi investment forum.
He reiterated his willingness to “make a deal with Iran” but threatened to impose “massive maximum pressure,” including driving Iranian oil exports to zero if talks failed.
Araghchi dismissed the remarks as a “very deceptive view” of Iran and blamed US sanctions, pressure and both military and non-military threats for hindering the country’s progress.
Jordanian King discusses Gaza with UK national security adviser
- King Abdullah emphasized the urgent need to reinstate the ceasefire in Gaza
- He commended the UK’s role in promoting stability in the region
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan met UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell at Al-Husseiniya Palace to discuss regional developments on Wednesday.
King Abdullah highlighted the significance of the relationship between Amman and London and the cooperation in various sectors, including defense, during the meeting that Crown Prince Hussein also attended.
He emphasized the urgent need to reinstate the ceasefire in Gaza, resume the flow of humanitarian aid and rebuild the Palestinian coastal enclave without displacing its residents, the Petra news agency reported.
They discussed the current events in the occupied West Bank and new developments in Syria. King Abdullah commended the UK’s role in promoting stability in the region, Petra added.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the director of the King’s office, Alaa Batayneh, Ambassador to the UK Manar Dabbas, Director of the General Intelligence Department Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni, and British Ambassador to Jordan Philip Hall.
UN peacekeepers say Israel hit Lebanon base with ‘direct fire’
- UNIFIL said it was ‘concerned by the recent aggressive posture of the Israel Defense Forces involving UNIFIL personnel and assets’
- Included an ‘incident in which a direct fire hit the perimeter of a UNIFIL position south of the village of Kfar Shouba’
BEIRUT: The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon protested on Wednesday at “direct fire” by the Israeli military at one of its positions, the first since a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
UNIFIL sits on the international committee created to supervise the ceasefire agreement that kicked in on November 27 and ended more than two months of all-out war between Israel and the pro-Iranian militant group.
In a statement, UNIFIL said it was “concerned by the recent aggressive posture of the Israel Defense Forces involving UNIFIL personnel and assets.”
That included an “incident in which a direct fire hit the perimeter of a UNIFIL position south of the village of Kfar Shouba,” which it said took place on Tuesday.
The force said it “observed two shots fired from south of the Blue Line,” in reference to the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon.
It was the first time since November 27 that Israel has directly hit a UNIFIL position, it said.
At the height of the fighting last October, the peacekeeping force accused Israel of having hit its positions or peacekeepers at least 20 times.
As well as the “direct hit” on Tuesday, UNIFIL said there were “at least four other incidents involving IDF fire near its positions” and “other aggressive behavior by the IDF toward peacekeepers performing their operational activities.”
It said that on Tuesday that peacekeepers patrolling alongside the Lebanese army “reported being targeted by a laser from a nearby IDF position.”
“UNIFIL protests all such and we continue to remind all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN assets and premises at all times,” the statement read.
According to the terms of the ceasefire, the Israeli military is required to withdraw completely from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah must dismantle its military assets in the region and withdraw north of the Litani river.
Israel has largely completed its withdrawal, though it insisted on keeping its forces at five points inside Lebanon that it considers strategic and has repeatedly launched strikes inside the country.
The ceasefire is based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which requires that UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army be the only armed bodies in southern Lebanon.
