Middle East: UN backs two-state solution without Hamas

Israel rejected a UN declaration that outlines steps towards a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians.

In a post on X, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said the declaration demonstrated the General Assembly was a "political circus detached from reality."

"In the dozens of clauses of the declaration endorsed by this resolution, there is not a single mention that Hamas is a terrorist organization," Marmorstein wrote.

Hamas is designated as a terror organization by Israel, the US, EU, Germany and others.

"The resolution does not advance a solution of peace, on the contrary, it encourages Hamas to continue the war," he continued.

The document called for Hamas to end its rule in the Palestinian enclave and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority with the support of a temporary international stabilization mission.

It also called for the release of Israeli hostages. In turn, Israel is called on to cease settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and end its military strikes on the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed there "will never be a Palestinian state," as he signed off on the controversial expansion of a Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. 

Tensions between Madrid and Jerusalem escalated after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of issuing a "genocidal threat" against Israel.

"I don't think Netanyahu is exactly the person entitled to lecture anyone while committing the atrocities he is committing in Gaza," Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told Antena 3 television in response.

The dispute stems from Sanchez's Monday announcement of measures to "put an end to the genocide in Gaza," including an arms embargo, a ban on fuel shipments for the Israeli military and restrictions on imports from illegal settlements.

"Spain does not have nuclear bombs. Nor does it have aircraft carriers or large oil reserves. We alone cannot stop the Israeli offensive, but that does not mean we will stop trying," Sanchez said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has summoned Israel's charge d’affaires in Madrid, Dana Erlich, to protest comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Spain's Foreign Ministry said Albares called in Erlich to "categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli prime minister's office."

On Thursday, Netanyahu's office claimed those remarks amounted to a "blatant genocidal threat on the world’s only Jewish state." Spain’s foreign ministry swiftly rejected the allegation as "false and slanderous," stressing that "the Spanish people are friends of the people of Israel as of the people of Palestine."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel on Saturday to show support before French-led efforts to recognize a Palestinian state, the State Department said.

Rubio will meet Israeli leaders to reaffirm "our commitment to fight anti-Israel actions including unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state that rewards Hamas terrorism," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

Palestinian medical sources say that Israeli airstrikes on Friday have killed at least 35 people across the Gaza Strip, most of them in northern Gaza City. The reports could not be independently verified.

One strike on a house in northern Gaza City was said to have killed 14 people, and many others were believed to be trapped under rubble.

The Israeli military said it would investigate and released a list of areas for Gaza City residents to evacuate ahead of an operation to seize control of the city. Suggested destinations include Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, aa well as several neighborhoods of Khan Younis in the south. 

The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a resolution supporting a declaration that calls for "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, without the involvement of Hamas.

The seven-page declaration stems from a July UN conference hosted by Saudi Arabia and France on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the meeting.

The resolution passed with 142 votes in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstentions.

The United States has announced new sanctions against 32 individuals, entities and four vessels linked to Yemen's Houthi rebels, in what the Trump administration called its largest action against the Iran-aligned group.

The US Treasury said the measures aim to disrupt the Houthis' fundraising, smuggling and attack operations. Targets include several China-based firms accused of moving military-grade components and other companies that arrange shipments of dual-use goods, along with petroleum smugglers and Houthi-linked shipping firms.

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS says Netherlands will skip next year's Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates, citing the "ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza."

The Netherlands joins a growing list of countries threatening to pull out of the 2026 contest in Vienna, including Ireland and Spain.

The United Arab Emirates has summoned Israel's ambassador after an Israeli strike targeted Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, Israeli broadcaster KAN reported, signaling rising tension between the two countries despite close economic and defense ties.

Relations were already strained over Israel’s past plans to annex parts of the West Bank, which Abu Dhabi had called a "red line."

Israel’s attempt to kill Hamas political leaders drew international condemnation. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Qatar to expel Hamas officials or "bring them to justice, because if you don’t, we will."

The UAE, the most prominent Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel in three decades, condemned Netanyahu’s remarks as "hostile."

The UN General Assembly is set to vote later on the "New York Declaration," a resolution aimed at reviving a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine without Hamas involvement.

The text, introduced by France and Saudi Arabia, demands that "Hamas must free all hostages" and condemns "the attacks committed by Hamas against civilians on the 7th of October." It also calls for "collective action to end the war in Gaza" and to implement a lasting two-state settlement.

Already endorsed by the Arab League and co-signed by 17 UN members in July, the declaration goes further by seeking Hamas’s removal from power in Gaza.

"In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," it reads.

The vote comes ahead of a September 22 UN summit in New York co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

"The fact that the General Assembly is finally backing a text that condemns Hamas directly is significant," Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told the AFP news agency.

However, he noted that the Israelis may view it as "too little, too late." He added that the resolution would offer pro-Palestinian states "a shield against Israeli criticism."

"Now at least states supporting the Palestinians can rebuff Israeli accusations that they implicitly condone Hamas," he said,

Several other leaders plan to announce their recognition of a Palestinian state at the summit, increasing pressure on Israel to end the Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks.

Welcome to DW's coverage of Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East.

You join us with the United Nations General Assembly getting ready to vote on the "New York Declaration," a France- and Saudi-backed plan to revive a two-state solution without Hamas.

It calls on Hamas to free all hostages, condemns the October 7 attacks, and urges collective action to end the Gaza war and remove Hamas from power.

Seventeen UN members and the Arab League as a whole already support it, with more leaders expected to recognize a Palestinian state at a September 22 summit in New York.

This blog will feature the latest news from the region as well as analysis, multimedia content and on-the-ground reporting from DW correspondents.