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UN tackles beleaguered two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

France and Saudi Arabia will lead the charge starting Monday to revive the moribund push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at a UN conference in New York.Days before the July 28-30 conference, to be co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would formally recognize the State of Palestine in September.Paris’s decision “will breathe new life into a conference that seemed destined to irrelevance,” said Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group.”Macron’s announcement changes the game. Other participants will be scrabbling to decide if they should also declare an intent to recognize Palestine.”In an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that other European countries will confirm “their intention to recognize the State of Palestine” during the conference, without detailing which ones.France is hoping that Britain will take this step, and more than 200 British MPs on Friday pushed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to do so, but he reiterated that recognition of a Palestinian state “must be part of a wider plan.”According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states — including France — now recognize the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states — one Jewish and the other Arab. The following year, the state of Israel was proclaimed.For several decades, the vast majority of UN member states have supported the idea of a two-state solution, Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side peacefully and securely.But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could be geographically impossible. The war in Gaza started following a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a large-scale military response that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives.The conference is a response to the crisis, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and several dozen ministers from around the world expected to attend.It is coming at a moment when “the prospect of a Palestinian state has never been so threatened, or so necessary,” Barrot said. – Call for courage -Beyond facilitating conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will have three other focusses — reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalization of relations with Israel by Arab states that have not yet done so. No new normalization deals are expected to be announced at the meeting, according to a French diplomatic source.But “for the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament,” Barrot said. The conference “offers a unique opportunity to transform international law and the international consensus into an achievable plan and to demonstrate resolve to end the occupation and conflict once and for all, for the benefit of all peoples,” said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, calling for “courage” from participants.Israel and the United States will not take part in the meeting, while international pressure continues to mount on Israel to end nearly two years of war in Gaza. Despite “tactical pauses” in some military operations announced by Israel, the humanitarian catastrophe in the ravaged coastal territory is expected to dominate speeches by representatives of more than 100 countries as they take the podium from Monday to Wednesday.Gowan said he expected “very fierce criticism of Israel.” 

WHO says malnutrition reaching ‘alarming levels’ in Gaza

Malnutrition rates are reaching “alarming levels” in the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization warned Sunday, saying the “deliberate blocking” of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives.”Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July,” the WHO said in a statement.Of the 74 recorded malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 had occurred in July — including 24 children under five, one child aged over five, and 38 adults, it added.”Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting,” the UN health agency said.”The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.”Israel on Sunday began a limited “tactical pause” in military operations to allow the UN and aid agencies to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.But the WHO called for sustained efforts to “flood” the Gaza Strip with diverse, nutritious food, and for the expedited delivery of therapeutic supplies for children and vulnerable groups, plus essential medicines and supplies.”This flow must remain consistent and unhindered to support recovery and prevent further deterioration”, the Geneva-based agency said.On Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the situation “mass starvation — and it’s man-made”.- ‘Dangerous cycle’ of death -Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, the WHO said Sunday, citing its Nutrition Cluster partners.It said the percentage of children aged six to 59 months suffering from acute malnutrition had tripled in the city since June, making it the worst-hit area in the Palestinian territory.”These figures are likely an underestimation due to the severe access and security constraints preventing many families from reaching health facilities,” the WHO said.The WHO said that in the first two weeks of July, more than 5,000 children under five had been admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition — 18 percent of them with the most life-threatening form, severe acute malnutrition (SAM).The 6,500 children admitted for malnutrition treatment in June was the highest number since the war began in October 2023.A further 73 children with SAM and medical complications have been hospitalised in July, up from 39 in June.”This surge in cases is overwhelming the only four specialised malnutrition treatment centres,” the WHO said.Furthermore, the organisation said the breakdown of water and sanitation services was “driving a dangerous cycle of illness and death”.As for pregnant and breastfeeding women, Nutrition Cluster screening data showed that more than 40 percent were severely malnourished, the WHO said.”It is not only hunger that is killing people, but also the desperate search for food,” the UN health agency said.”Families are being forced to risk their lives for a handful of food, often under dangerous and chaotic conditions,” it added.The UN rights office says Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May. Nearly three-quarters of them died near GHF sites.