Category World News

Islamabad, Pakistan – A powerful car bomb blast outside the headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in the southwestern city of Quetta has killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 30 others, authorities said.

The explosion, swiftly followed by heavy gunfire, tore through the vicinity of Zarghoon Road in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, on Tuesday.

“Two law enforcement personnel were killed while the rest of the dead were civilians,” Bakht Muhammad Kakar, the provincial health minister, told Al Jazeera.

A security camera video posted on social media showed a vehicle turning towards the regional headquarters of the Frontier Corps and exploding within seconds.

Naresh Kumar, a witness, said he was standing outside his office close to the targeted building when the explosion took place. “My mind just went blank. I got hit by shards of glasses in my arm and back. The explosion was just massive,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.

Inam, another injured person who only gave his first name, was brought to the hospital where he was treated for wounds after glass shards injured his back due to the explosion.

“Our office is right around the paramilitary building. We were working in our office when the explosion totally rocked us and then everything went dark. I could hear firing which lasted for a while before the law enforcement arrived to take control,” he told Al Jazeera via telephone from the hospital.

Balochistan’s Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, labelling it a “terrorist attack”. Speaking after the blast, Bugti confirmed that at least four attackers were killed by the security personnel.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari issued a strong condemnation over the attack, saying, “The misguided extremists were acting on India’s agenda.” He did not give details.

India has not yet responded to the allegation. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Balochistan’s economic significance

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest yet most sparsely populated province. Home to about 15 million people in a country of roughly 240 million, it remains the country’s poorest province despite possessing vast reserves of oil, coal, gold, copper, and gas. While these resources contribute substantially to the revenues of the federal government, the province itself faces economic hardships.

Balochistan is also home to Gwadar, a strategic deep-sea port which is the centrepiece of $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project designed to establish a trade link between southwestern China and the Arabian Sea.

However, Chinese investments, particularly in Balochistan, have fuelled local resentments. Residents accuse Chinese firms of “stealing local resources” and this sentiment has repeatedly driven local armed groups to attack Chinese personnel and installations.

The province also has the Reko Diq reserves, which are said to contain the world’s fifth-largest copper deposits.

Canadian firm Barrick Mining has been operating at the site since 2022. Earlier this month, Pakistan also signed a $500m deal with a United States-based firm to export critical minerals and rare earth elements.

The local resentments have fuelled a rebellion movement for decades, which aims to establish an independent Balochistan state.

As violence escalates in the province, analysts have questioned the government’s ability in eliminating the armed and rebel groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) or the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).

Muhammad Arif, an expert on international relations, said the demography of Balochistan is complex for both the violent groups as well as the government as he pointed out a logistical challenge inherent in the province’s topography.

“It is not possible for non-state actors to take control of the region of Balochistan with its vast, difficult terrain, but at the same time, the security of each and every corner of the state is difficult for the same reasons,” he said.

Arif suggested that a recent surge in violence could be linked to the government’s counter-insurgency operations.

“It is believed that the Baloch Liberation Army and other groups have suffered heavy casualties in the last couple of weeks, with the Pakistani forces helped by Chinese communication equipment along with drones and Pakistani jet fighters. [Tuesday’s] attack could be a retaliation move,” the Quetta-based analyst told Al Jazeera.

In late August, government officials from Zambia and Israel assembled to celebrate the reopening of the Israeli embassy in Lusaka. It was the first time in 52 years that an Israeli flag would be raised in the Zambian capital, following a long period of severed ties.

“Israel is returning to Zambia. Israel is returning to Africa,” Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign affairs minister, who had flown into the country for the event and led the ribbon-cutting, declared in a post on X. Undoubtedly, for Saar, this was a true feat, coming at a time when much of the world is isolating Israel due to its devastating onslaught on the Gaza Strip. Israeli media hailed the move as a triumph. One called the small Southern African country Israel’s “next great Africa frontier”.

“Many countries in Africa are lining up for Israel to open an embassy in their capitals, these days,” Saar boasted in a speech at the ceremony. “We choose to begin in Zambia.”

The reopening event appears to be part of a series of calculated moves by Israel to pull African nations to its side at a time when its global standing is damaged, experts say.

Israel’s war on Gaza, labelled in mid-September as a genocide by a United Nations panel of inquiry, has seen Israel kill at least 66,055 Palestinians and level almost every part of the Strip. Some say strengthening ties with Zambia appears to be Israel’s crack at weakening its regional neighbour, South Africa, which is Israel’s fiercest critic in Africa.

“It’s a play of the decades-old divide and rule strategy to erode regional support among states and actors aligned with South Africa,” researcher Faith Mabera of the University of the Witwatersrand told Al Jazeera, adding that the move could undermine Pretoria’s influence within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

A week before the Zambia event, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, visited Nigeria, where she met with her counterpart. However, Abuja, which has proclaimed support for Palestinians, did not publicise the meeting on social media channels. Two weeks later, Nigeria’s anti-terrorism unit detained Ramzy Abu Ibrahim, a leader of the Palestinian community in Nigeria. It’s unclear what Ibrahim’s offence is, or if the Israeli minister’s visit is connected to his arrest. Nigeria’s foreign ministry spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Haskel went on to South Sudan, a staunch Israel ally, promising aid to the fragile, young country currently caught in armed conflict between President Salva Kiir and sides loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar. Haskel, in a statement, deployed whataboutism, questioning why all eyes were on Gaza when countries like South Sudan also face humanitarian emergencies.

What the diplomat did not mention was that her visit came right as reports leaked of talks between Israeli and South Sudanese officials over controversial plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians from Gaza to the East African country. South Sudan has denied the talks, despite reporting from credible sources like Reuters and The Associated Press news agencies. The forcible transfer of Palestinians under Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza could constitute a war crime.

There are similar talks of autonomous Somaliland hosting expelled Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for official recognition from the United States and Israel. Somalilanders say they want no part in it.

Highs and lows of Africa-Israel ties

Israel’s image in Africa, on average, is poor, experts note, although it’s not for a lack of trying on the Israeli government’s part. A handful of countries respond to its friendly overtures, but the overall majority have firmly kept their distance.

One reason is that Israel does not carry the weight of countries like China and Russia, which are looking to more deeply engage African leaders for their mineral resources and for their votes at the United Nations General Assembly. Israel, in particular, needs support from the global community: between 2015 and 2023, the UNGA passed 154 resolutions against the country, compared with 71 against all other countries combined.

The bigger reason for African countries’ distancing, though, researchers note, is Palestine.

South Africa vocally leads the pack of critics because of its own painful history of apartheid – which Israel was a strong supporter of – and Israel’s continuation of its own apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories. Nelson Mandela’s infamous 1997 quote about how South Africa’s freedom is incomplete without Palestine’s is a blueprint for Pretoria’s keen protectiveness.

Relations with the continent were not always unfriendly. Israel ingratiated itself with most African nations in the 1950s and 1960s, after they gained independence from colonial powers in waves. At the time, Israeli leaders like David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir were intent on pushing a narrative of Israel as an ally of “freed people”, historians note, partly to build influence at the UN.

Things turned ugly amid the October 1973 war, when those nations began to see Israel as a pariah encroaching not just on Palestine, but on Egypt, and in effect, on Africa. Uganda was the first to turn from Israel. Within the space of months, more than 20 African nations had abruptly cut ties. The collective effect of that cold disapproval dealt a grave diplomatic blow to Israel. It was unprecedented, and no region has ever again jointly moved so strongly against Israel.

Israel has since pushed for a return to the friendly days with some success. It reopened about 11 embassies across Africa, down from an initial 33 embassies and consulates before 1973. A few of the countries Israel is wooing, such as Nigeria, are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which brings together 57 countries globally with significant Muslim populations, and has repeatedly called for ceasefires in Gaza.

Sudan and Morocco, also part of the OIC, agreed to normalise relations with Israel, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, under the US-brokered 2020 Abraham Accords.

In 2021, Israel attained observer status at the African Union (AU), after two failed attempts. South Africa and Algeria contest the move and say Moussa Faki, the then-chief of the AU Commission, the continental body’s executive branch, took the decision unilaterally. Palestine, on the other hand, became an observer in 2013, allowing it to participate in AU summits for longer.

From aid to arms

Israel has particularly set eyes on East Africa, especially Ethiopia, home to 160,000 Ethiopian Jews, some of whom Israel secretly airlifted in 1991 amid the Ethiopian civil war. In 2016, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured East Africa, visiting Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. The Israeli aid agency, Mashav, sent aid worth $45.5m to Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Kenya between 2009 and 2021, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Aid often went towards agriculture, water and healthcare.

Israeli aid to African countries does not represent a major source of financing. Ethiopia, which receives most Israeli funding, received $1.3bn in US aid in 2024, for example. The World Bank, Germany and the European Union have become its biggest funders since the US cut back on foreign assistance.

Results, at least for UN resolutions, have been mixed, researchers note, with some East African nations accepting funds while not committing to consistent support of Israel, because of the general pro-Palestine policy of the AU.

Ethiopia, for one, according to a 2024 study by Ben-Gurion University researcher Yaron Salman, voted several times against Israel at the UN between 2012 and 2021, despite receiving more than half of its aid assistance to Africa around the same time.

Only South Sudan, the study noted, consistently stood by Israel. Both countries formed relations early in South Sudan’s history, as Israel backed independence fighters against Sudan, which South Sudan broke away from in 2011. This backing goes back decades with Israel’s Mossad agency first providing military support to rebel fighters in the 1960s. Haim Koren, a former Israeli ambassador to South Sudan, wrote in a 2019 analysis piece for the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies that Israel supported the secession forces to target Sudan – and generally, the Arab region. Reports as far back as 1994 noted Israeli arms being transferred to South Sudanese rebels, and in 2016, a UN panel of experts concluded that Israeli weapons were fuelling the civil war that broke out immediately after South Sudan’s independence.

South Sudan’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement in August, the ministry said claims of a forcible transfer of Palestinians to the country are “baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy” of South Sudan.

South Sudanese democracy activist Mahmoud Akot told Al Jazeera that history aside, any attempts to transfer Palestinians to the country would be met with fierce opposition because of the country’s own challenges.

“It’s hard for the government to acknowledge this publicly, let alone try to convince people to accept it,” Akot said. “I think the deal will not be fruitful.”

Other African nations – even South Africa – have not been immune to Israel’s arms appeal, despite support for Palestine. Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Seychelles, South Africa and Uganda all bought weapons from Israel between 2006 and 2010, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Many continue to trade with Israel, buying everything from surveillance technologies and agro-tech equipment to consumer goods.

“By embedding itself in African security structures, Israel not only profits from instability but also gains partners less likely to challenge its brutal military occupation and its genocidal atrocities,” South African analyst Reneva Fourie told Al Jazeera. “These partnerships normalise Israel as a counterterrorism ally while deflecting attention from the fact that it is the perpetrator of state terror against Palestinians.”

Is Israel winning the diplomacy game?

After it began its war on Gaza in October 2023, whatever fragile support Israel had on the continent appeared to largely collapse.

In a landmark case, South Africa accused Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023, and the AU, early on in the war, was unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel and its support for Palestinian statehood.

A few embarrassing scenarios illustrate Israel’s further fall from grace. In April this year, the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, Avraham Nigusse, was thrown out of an AU event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, which was being held at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. Nigusse, of Ethiopian descent, fumed on social media, calling the move “outrageous”. The order reportedly came from the AU Commission chief, the no-nonsense Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti. As foreign minister, Youssouf’s criticism of Western nations’ inability to stop Israel’s war on Gaza was blistering.

One unnamed diplomat, speaking to AP after the incident in Addis Ababa, said Nigusse was removed because Israel has now lost the observer status it struggled to get.

Sharon Bar-li, deputy director of Israel’s foreign ministry’s Africa department, triggered the AU to first suspend Israel in February 2023, when she attended a high-level meeting of African leaders that only the Israeli ambassador to the AU had been invited to, according to the bloc’s statement. Bar-li was unceremoniously expelled from the meeting, as seen in now viral clips. Then-AU Commission chief Faki confirmed a day after the incident that the bloc had already suspended Israel’s status, which South Africa and Algeria long advocated for. The bloc did not clarify when the suspension occurred, and has not publicly released more information on the issue.

Even as most of Africa stands resolute with Palestine, researcher Fourie noted that Israel is winning somewhat, at least with new friends like Zambia, and those Arab countries like Morocco which have normalised ties with the country. Zambia and South Sudan were part of six African countries that abstained at the first UN resolution vote condemning Israel’s assault in November 2023, a month after the war on Gaza began. Cameroon, Ethiopia, Malawi and Equatorial Guinea did the same. Other African countries voted in support.

Lusaka defaulted on foreign debt in 2020 and is desperate for investment. Israel is thus exploiting this context to insert itself deeper into the Southern Africa region, Fourie said. It’s unclear yet if Israel has delivered major aid funds to Zambia, but Lusaka received a heart-lung monitoring machine in August from Israeli humanitarian organisation Save a Child’s Heart. Zambian agriculture students also travel on sponsored training programmes to the Naqab Desert (Negev in Hebrew) region. Zambia’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel’s government press office and foreign affairs office did not respond to requests for comments for this story.

For Fourie, South Africa has a leading role in countering Israel’s influence on the continent. For that, she said, African countries need to deepen economic ties and protect themselves from foreign influence in the guise of aid. Fourie said these countries also must remind themselves that backing Palestine is the moral response to the decades of imperialism Africa suffered.

Still, Muhammad Desai, co-founder of the Johannesburg-based solidarity group, Africa4Palestine, insists that Israel’s “desperate” strategy is already being diluted by ordinary citizens.

“Solidarity movements across the continent in support of the Palestinian people have grown exponentially,” in recent months, Desai said.

Two Palestinian children were filmed being held by Israeli soldiers in Hebron, West Bank, while their fathers were being sought out for information. A soldier responded, “I don’t care,” when a passing officer intervened and demanded their release because they were young.

World leaders gathered in New York from September 23 to 29 for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Israel faced growing isolation as speaker after speaker condemned its ongoing war on Gaza, and delegates from multiple countries staged walkouts when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage. Many diplomats left the chamber in protest during his speech.

Outside the UN headquarters, large crowds filled the streets in support of Palestinians and to protest against Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. While the United States and a small group of allies continued to stand by Israel, the overwhelming chorus of criticism highlighted its growing isolation on the global stage.

Below are notable quotes from leaders around the world on Israel’s genocidal war.

UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the war on Gaza as unlike any other conflict he has witnessed during his tenure, warning of its devastating scale. He pointed to International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings that ordered Israel to prevent genocide, allow investigations and enable greater humanitarian access.

Brazil

By tradition, Brazil is always the first country to speak, a practice that began in 1955 when it volunteered to open the debate.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva framed Palestine as the starkest example of disproportionate and illegal use of force.

He cautioned that the Palestinian people risk disappearing unless they achieve an independent state fully integrated into the international community.

United States

Next to the podium was US President Donald Trump.

In a nearly hourlong speech, Trump dismissed the role of the UN, criticised immigration and climate policies, praised US military strength, and attacked European allies for national decline.

On Palestine, he demanded the immediate release of all captives and warned that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state would amount to “a reward to Hamas for its horrible atrocities”.

Indonesia

President Prabowo Subianto told the UNGA that Indonesia is ready to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers to Gaza – or “anywhere” peace is needed, including Ukraine.

Framing Gaza’s plight through Indonesia’s own history of colonial suffering, he drew parallels between his nation’s past and the struggles of Palestinians today.

He urged the UN not to remain silent while Palestinians are “denied justice and legitimacy” in its very hall, reminding delegates that the institution exists to defend both “the strong and the weak”.

Turkiye

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened his speech by criticising Washington for denying visas to Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas, in violation of the UN host agreement.

Erdogan devoted much of his address to Israel’s war on Gaza, showing delegates photos of women waiting for food and a severely malnourished child. “Can we possibly have a reasonable reason for this brutality in 2025?” he asked, calling the situation one of humanity’s darkest moments.

He demanded an immediate ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian aid and accountability for those committing genocide.

Jordan

Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned that failing to address the war on Gaza would “signal acceptance of the situation and abandonment of our humanity”. He described the conflict as “one of the darkest moments in this institution’s history”, stressing that Palestinian suffering has spanned the very lifetime of the UN.

He argued that interim agreements have failed, often serving only as a cover for Israel’s land grabs, settlement expansion and home demolitions.

Lasting security, he said, will come only through a two-state solution – an independent and viable Palestinian state with currently occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, alongside Israel.

Qatar

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel for what he called a “treacherous attack” on September 9 that targeted a Hamas negotiating delegation in Doha. He described the strike as a political assassination that undermines diplomatic efforts to end the genocide in Gaza, arguing it shows Israel has become a “rogue state”.

He warned that Israel’s real aim is to render Gaza uninhabitable.

“Their goal is to destroy Gaza so that it is unlivable and where no one can study or receive treatment.”

South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa used his UN address to highlight the case his country is leading at the ICJ, pressing for a ruling that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He cited a recent UN commission report that reached the same conclusion.

He noted a “growing global consensus” that Israel is committing genocide, and said South Africa’s case aims to “save lives by insisting that the ICJ should rule that genocide is being committed in Gaza – and that it must stop.”

Lebanon

President Joseph Aoun told the UNGA that while he speaks of peace, development and human rights, many Lebanese citizens face death daily, parts of Lebanon remain under occupation, and the country lives in “persistent uncertainty”.

Aoun called for the full implementation of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1701, demanding an end to Israeli aggression, the withdrawal of occupying forces from Lebanese territory, and the release of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails.

On Gaza, Aoun said the devastation must end immediately, and he reaffirmed Lebanon’s support for a two-state solution as the only path to lasting peace.

France

Following France’s decision earlier in the week to formally recognise Palestinian statehood, President Emmanuel Macron called on more countries to follow suit in the name of peace.

He said the UN’s 80th anniversary must be a moment of renewal.

Macron backed the New York Declaration, signed by 142 states, which calls for the release of captives, stabilisation of Gaza, dismantling of Hamas and recognition of Israel and Palestine. He urged remaining countries to endorse it and pressed for a political solution that ensures lasting peace.

Colombia

Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the UNGA of being a “mute witness” to genocide in Gaza, where more than 60,000 people have been killed.

He urged member states to bypass the UNSC’s repeated vetoes and take binding action through the UNGA.

“Diplomacy has been tried in Gaza,” Petro said, warning that every day “more children die, more bombs fall, more bodies are destroyed”.

Spain

Opening the second day of the General Debate, Spain’s King Felipe VI told the UNGA that “the dignity of the human being is non-negotiable”, describing the UN as “indispensable and irreplaceable” in defending a rules-based order against the “law of the strongest”.

Turning to Gaza, he condemned the devastation and mass displacement caused by Israel’s war, while denouncing Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks.

Syria

President Ahmad al-Sharaa, addressing the UNGA for the first time since Syria’s political transition, framed its recent history as a struggle between “truth and falsehood”, marked by years of tyranny, war crimes and destruction.

Al-Sharaa warned against renewed Israeli threats during Syria’s fragile transition, reaffirming his country’s commitment to sovereignty and dialogue. He called for the lifting of sanctions, inviting international investment to help rebuild the nation.

On Gaza, he said Syria’s own suffering makes it “stand firmly with the people of Gaza”, and called for an immediate end to the war.

Iran

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian framed the UN’s 80th anniversary theme – “Better Together” – as a call to solidarity rooted in timeless moral principles shared across faiths and philosophies: to desire for others what one desires for oneself. He urged leaders to return to these values, warning that today’s global order falls dangerously short.

Pointing to what he called “genocide in Gaza”, the destruction of homes in Lebanon, Syria’s devastation, Yemen’s famine, and the assassination of Iranian scientists, he condemned repeated violations of sovereignty carried out under the guise of self-defence. Such acts, he said, betray the very foundations of humanity.

Palestine

In a prerecorded video message, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UNGA that Gaza has endured “a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement” that has killed or wounded more than 220,000 people, mostly civilians.

He denounced Israeli settlement violence and rejected Netanyahu’s vision of a “greater Israel”, accusing settlers of killing Palestinians “in broad daylight under the protection of the occupation army”.

Abbas also distanced the PA from Hamas, condemning its October 2023 attacks and insisting the group “will not have a role to play in governance” in Gaza.

Ghana

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama sharply criticised the ongoing war in Gaza and the treatment of the Palestinian delegation at the UN.

He warned that the denial of visas to PA leader Abbas and his team “sets a bad precedent” for the UNGA, stressing that Ghana has long recognised the State of Palestine and supports a two-state solution.

United Kingdom

UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy called the situation in Gaza “indefensible” and “utterly unjustifiable”, urging an immediate end to the suffering. He said Palestinians – whose state the UK had just recognised – and Israelis “deserve better”.

While condemning Hamas’s October 2023 attacks, Lammy also denounced Israel’s blockade of aid that has driven famine in Gaza, insisting that only urgent diplomatic action could end the crisis.

Yemen

Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, president of Yemen, described Gaza as a “wound that continues to bleed”, describing both Yemen and Palestine as “the moral testing ground” for the UN – places where the “might of right” must confront the “right of might”.

Expressing solidarity with the PA, he urged all states that have not yet recognised Palestine to do so.

Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UNGA that Israel has crushed Hamas, Hezbollah, now-ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, and Iran’s proxies, while severely damaging Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes in a joint campaign with the US. He warned that Iran must not be allowed to rebuild its military nuclear capacities, urging UN sanctions to “snap back”.

He recounted the October 2023 Hamas attacks as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields. He rejected accusations of genocide, arguing Israel has taken unprecedented measures to minimise casualties while providing food aid to Gaza.

He insisted Israel will never accept a Palestinian state imposed after the October 2023 attacks.

Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the UNGA that Israel’s “genocidal onslaught” in Gaza has unleashed “unspeakable terror” on women and children, calling it one of the darkest chapters in history. He urged immediate action for a ceasefire, saying the world “failed Hind Rajab”, the Palestinian child whose final pleas were broadcast globally.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for a sovereign Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, urging more countries to follow recent recognitions of Palestinian statehood.

Ireland

Taoiseach Micheal Martin, the Irish prime minister, told the UNGA that Gaza is now a “catastrophe of the most monumental and consequential kind”.

“We are all witnesses to the immense wrath of one of the world’s most modern and best-equipped armies brought to bear on a trapped and defenceless civilian population,” he declared.

Bangladesh

Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, said Dhaka agrees with a UN human rights commission’s finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

“We do agree with the UN independent international inquiry commission that we are witnessing a genocide happening live,” he said.

Russia

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Israel is seeking to “blow up” the whole of the Middle East as he criticised its attacks on Iran and Qatar and opposed calls to annex the occupied West Bank.

He questioned the delay in recognising Palestine by Western governments, suggesting they hoped there would soon be “nothing and no one left to recognise”.

Calling for urgent action to preserve Palestinian rights, he linked the Gaza war to a wider pattern of Western double standards, accusing the US and its allies of sabotaging diplomacy and undermining the UN system.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud condemned Israel’s “brutal and unchecked” practices in Gaza, including starvation, forced displacement and systematic killing, stressing the famine designation by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

He called for urgent action to end the aggression. He welcomed new recognitions of Palestine by countries including France, the UK, Canada, Australia and several European states.