Conditions in Gaza remain dire ahead of Netanyahu’s UN address
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as conditions in Gaza remained dire for more than two million Palestinians living in the Strip, nearly three years after the war began.
It’s been a year since a ceasefire brokered by United States President Donald Trump and Arab allies promised to end the war in Gaza and rebuild the devastated territory.
The agreement halted major military operations, freed all remaining hostages and increased humanitarian access. But it has failed to deliver on larger promises of a new Palestinian administration aided by international forces and an end to Israel’s deadly strikes and control over more than half the territory.
Israel has tied any progress on those issues to Hamas’ complete disarmament, while the militant group — and the Trump administration — says they should happen in parallel.
Netanyahu has hardened his stance ahead of elections this month, openly defying Trump, his most important ally.
The wrangling has left Gaza’s Palestinians in a miserable limbo. Most are sheltering in rodent-infested tent camps, the rubble of their former neighbourhoods or war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire. Several international NGOs as well as a UN commission have found that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, will not attend the UN General Assembly in person for a second consecutive year after the US refused to issue him a visa.
Abbas will nonetheless address the assembly by video on the same day as Netanyahu.
Under its agreement with the United Nations, the United States, as the host country, is required to allow diplomats from all member states to attend meetings.
