TEHRAN (Iran News) The United Nations has opened a three-day conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, with the goal of recognizing Palestinian statehood as well as bringing an end to the Israeli war in Gaza.

With over a month’s delay, the conference kicked off on Monday,  just days after French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would officially recognize Palestine as a state in September.

Paris and Riyadh had proposed the U.N. meeting months ago, in an effort to reinvigorate the peace talks that were stalled after the ongoing Israeli military offensive began in Gaza in early October 2023.

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the conference would also serve as a platform for other European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said that Palestinians had a “legitimate right” for an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Al-Quds as its capital.

He also announced Riyadh’s efforts for the World Bank approval to transfer 300 million dollars to the besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank to deal with the dire humanitarian crisis there.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa called on all countries to “recognize the state of Palestine without delay.”

“All states have a responsibility to act now,” said Mustafa at the start of the meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Despite growing international pressure on Israel to end its war, the regime and its main backer, the United States, are not taking part in the meeting.

The U.S. State Department said the event was “unproductive and ill-timed,” as well as a “publicity stunt” that would make finding peace harder.

Washington has already vetoed several U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at ending the Israeli war on Gaza.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) Nearly 60 Labour lawmakers have called on the British government to urgently recognize Palestine as a state, following an Israeli proposal to forcibly relocate all Gaza residents to a camp on the ruins of Rafah.

The M.P.s—comprising both centrist and left-wing backbenchers—sent a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday, warning that Gaza is facing ethnic cleansing.

They urged Lammy to take swift action to halt the Israeli regime’s Rafah plan, and to take the further step of formally recognizing Palestinian statehood.

The letter was issued shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron echoed similar concerns at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli defence minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah, without allowing them to leave,” the M.P.s wrote.

The minister’s plans have been described by leading Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard as “an operational plan for crimes against humanity.” “It’s about population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip,” he said.

Sfard added, “Though an accurate description, we believe there is a clearer one: the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

They urged Lammy to take swift action to halt the Israeli regime’s Rafah plan, and to take the further step of formally recognizing Palestinian statehood.

The letter was issued shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron echoed similar concerns at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli defence minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah, without allowing them to leave,” the M.P.s wrote.

The minister’s plans have been described by leading Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard as “an operational plan for crimes against humanity.” “It’s about population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip,” he said.

Sfard added, “Though an accurate description, we believe there is a clearer one: the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

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TEHRAN (Iran News) Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who traveled to Abu Dhabi, met with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Monday evening.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) A Palestinian detainee has died in Israeli custody, becoming the second prisoner declared dead within four days.

Nasser Khalil Radaydeh, 49, died at Israel’s Hadassah Hospital on Sunday, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission said, according to a report by WAFA news agency.

Radaydeh, a father of seven, was from the town of Al-Ubeidiya, Bethlehem Governorate, and was imprisoned on September 18, 2023 after he was injured by Israeli gunfire, according to the report.

He was held in Ofer Prison and was transferred to Hadassah Hospital on Saturday. The cause of his death was not announced but the Civil Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society held Israel “fully responsible” for Radaydeh’s death.

They renewed calls on international human rights organizations to “take decisive action to hold Israeli officials accountable for the ongoing war crimes” against the Palestinian people.

The two organizations said that Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails face “daily abuse, including torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence and conditions that lead to severe and contagious diseases,” the report said.

Radaydeh was the second Palestinian prisoner to have died in Israeli custody over the past four days. His death brings to 65 the number of identified detainees who have lost their lives in Israeli prisons since the Gaza war broke out in early October 2023, according to the report, which said 40 of those detainees were from the war-ravaged territory.

The report also said that many prisoners from Gaza have been subjected to forced disappearance since the start of the war, without specifying the number.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) The Israeli military has deployed tanks in the occupied West Bank for the first time in over two decades, in a move that Palestinian groups condemned as an attempt to “annex” the occupied territory by force.

The deployment is part of an intensified campaign of raids and arrests that has displaced approximately 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps over the past five weeks.

The Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad condemned the deployment of tanks in the West Bank, a first since the end of the second Palestinian intifada in 2005, as being part of a broader plan to “annex the West Bank by force.”

Islamic Jihad fought a deadly Israeli aggression alongside Hamas in Gaza. The war, which killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and left almost the entire enclave in ruins, came to a pause after Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement last month.

Tensions have spiked in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. The Israeli military launched a bloody offensive in the occupied territory early in January, killing at least 60 Palestinians.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said on Monday that at least 365 Palestinians have been arrested in the Jenin and Tulkarem governorates during the latest offensive by Israel.

The mayor of Jenin also reported extensive destruction in the city’s refugee camp, saying that 120 homes have been completely destroyed, with many others partially damaged.

On Sunday, Israel told its troops to prepared for an “extended stay” in the West Bank.

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TEHRAN (Iran News)  The Palestinian Authority (PA) has halted payments to the families of Palestinian martyrs, injured, and prisoners, drawing a harsh rebuke from Palestinian resistance movements.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on Monday to revoke legal articles relating to the payments initiative – a longstanding demand by the United States and the Israeli regime.

According to the text of the decree, the payments will be transferred to a government body affiliated with the PA president’s office.

American news website Axios cited a senior Palestinian official as saying that the PA notified the Donald Trump administration in advance of the announcement.

The PA was prepared to make the decision toward the end of Joe Biden’s term, but Abbas decided to wait until Trump took office to give the win to the new administration, the source was quoted as saying.

Hamas: A betrayal of national values

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) denounced Abbas’s decision, calling it an abandonment of the national cause at a time when the Palestinian people and resistance forces are “working to preserve the rights of the martyrs, liberate the prisoners, and ensure a dignified life for those who have been freed.”

“We affirm that this action is unpatriotic and represents a departure from one of the national principles,” Hamas said, urging an immediate reversal and a refusal to submit to pressure from Israel and the U.S.

The group emphasized that prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded should be honored, not forsaken.

Fatah: A stab in the back

Abbas’s own party, the Fatah movement, also condemned the decision, calling it a betrayal of those who have made sacrifices for Palestine.

“This decision is a stab in the back of our martyrs, prisoners, and wounded,” the movement said.

It urged all Palestinian factions to pressure the PA to reverse the move and emphasized the importance of supporting the families of those who defended Palestinian rights.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad: A concession to U.S. and Zionist blackmail

Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the decision as an attempt to “weaken the morale of our people and betray the prisoners who spend years in prison.”

“This decision is a clear concession to American and Zionist pressures and blackmail,” the group asserted.

It warned that such policies would only strengthen their determination to continue the fight against occupation.

Palestinian Mujahideen Movement: A punitive measure

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement also labeled the PA’s decision as a punitive measure against those who made sacrifices for liberation.

“This unacceptable step serves as a grave betrayal of their rights, especially amid the ongoing genocide and suffocating siege,” the movement said.

It called for an immediate reversal of the move and urged steps toward true national unity.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades: A disgraceful act

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades described the decision as an attack on the blood of martyrs and the suffering of prisoners, condemning the PA for acting under American influence.

“The role of this Authority is simply to pursue the blood of martyrs in their graves and the suffering of prisoners in jails,” the group stated.

It also called on Palestinians to resist these policies.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) After the crackdown on pro-Palestinian students at US universities last spring, American universities and colleges have reinforced the rules about protests, locked campus doors, and imposed more severe punishment for holding demonstrations, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

“Universities have seen just under 950 protest events this semester so far, compared to 3,000 last semester,” the American daily cited from a research center at Harvard University.

Nearly 50 individuals have been detained during this school year, compared to over 3,000 last semester, which is thought-provoking, according to Harvard University.

Also, Harvard University temporarily banned tens of faculty members and students from entering libraries after they sat behind the library tables to protest in silence against the war in Gaza.

The report added that Indiana University Bloomington put the protesting students, who had just lit candles for the victims of the Gaza war, under the new prohibition on activities.

The University of Pennsylvania officials and police officers, who were holding zip ties, warned the students against holding any demonstrations.

The chairman of the American Association of University Professors, Todd Wolfson, says, “The restrictions have made people afraid,” as quoted by the New York Times.

Meanwhile, experts believe that the government under US President-elect Donald Trump will “try to force further changes at institutions.”

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TEHRAN (Iran News) Esmail Baghaei wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, “20th November, World Children’s Day, highlights the right of all children to live in peace and security. This is an occasion to see the suffering of the children in Gaza.”

Referring to the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip, he wrote, “Under relentless bombardment, Gaza has become a graveyard for kids. Over 17,000 Palestinian children have been slaughtered, thousands are missing, tens of thousands are injured, with over a thousand amputations often performed without anesthesia, more than 35,000 lost one or both parents, many lost entire families.”

Baghaei also pointed out to a comment by the UN special rapporteur, adding, “As UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs declared, up to 700 Palestinian children per annum have been kidnapped and held hostages for decades.”

In conclusion, he highlighted the repercussions of the Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza, noting: “Malnutrition has claimed 3,500 children, countless others suffer from hunger, disease, and displacement, and lack of basic living necessities. These are deep wounds on the conscience of humanity. It is high time that the world stopped impunity for the atrocious crimes against Palestinian children.”

The Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza has martyred at least 43,972 Palestinians and wounded 104,008 since October 7, 2023.

Baghaei also pointed out to a comment by the UN special rapporteur, adding, “As UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs declared, up to 700 Palestinian children per annum have been kidnapped and held hostages for decades.”

In conclusion, he highlighted the repercussions of the Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza, noting: “Malnutrition has claimed 3,500 children, countless others suffer from hunger, disease, and displacement, and lack of basic living necessities. These are deep wounds on the conscience of humanity. It is high time that the world stopped impunity for the atrocious crimes against Palestinian children.”

The Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza has martyred at least 43,972 Palestinians and wounded 104,008 since October 7, 2023.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) Hamas said on Monday evening that the remarks made by the Zionist regime’s minister of finance about trying to occupy the West Bank and preventing the formation of an independent Palestinian state once again emphasized its colonial and occupying objectives and denied the rights of the Palestinian people.

We emphasize that we and other resistance groups will continue to fight against the plots of the aggressors and will not allow the terrorist Bezalel Smotrich and other war criminals to carry out their evil plots, it added.

These efforts do not change the historical fact that the West Bank is a Palestinian land is an authentic part of the independent state of Palestine with Holy Quds as its capital, it noted.

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement urged the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations to actively confront the Zionist criminal gang that violates all international laws and its actions and conspiracies that escalate tension in the region and the world, it stated.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad Movement of Palestine in a statement announced that the Zionist minister’s remarks about the occupation of the West Bank was another slap to those who wanted to compromise with occupiers.

These remarks show that the Zionist regime has launched an endless full-scale war against the Palestinian nation to occupy their lands and expel them, it added.

The Israeli minister of finance, who is famous for opposing the formation of a Palestinian state and supporting the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, claimed on Monday that 2025 will the year of Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank.

He said he had issued orders for the expansion of sovereignty over the West Bank.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) The police also arrested more than 300 others and expelled them from Amsterdam, Reuters reported on Monday.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Dam Square in Amsterdam, chanting “Free Palestine” and “Amsterdam says no to genocide,” according to the Reuters report.

A local court in the Netherlands soon ratified a ban presented by the city council on holding demonstrations, leading to the arrest of hundreds of the protestors.

The report also says that the police used violence when arresting some protestors.

Despite the police behavior towards the protestors, Amsterdam extended the ban on demonstrations till November 14.

The violence recently committed by fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. during a football match with AFC Ajax and the false news reported from the Amsterdam incident are efforts to excuse European countries for their support for the Zionists.

The killing of over 43,000 Palestinians, the destruction of the Gaza Strip, the bombardment of hospitals, and the massacre of correspondents and medical personnel are all signs of genocide, which disrespects international regulations.

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