16 Countries Support Two-State Solution
CrossFireArabia- July 31, 2025
The “New York Declaration,” launched Tuesday at a United Nations conference, reaffirmed support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict amid the rising famine and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza following Israeli assaults.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s offensive on Gaza has killed over 60,000 Palestinians. Relentless bombing has devastated the enclave, causing severe food shortages. At least 154 people, including 89 children, have died from starvation.
The declaration was issued at the conclusion of the High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Question and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, held under the joint chairmanship of Saudi Arabia and France according to Anadolu.
“We agreed to take collective action to end the war in Gaza, to achieve a just, peaceful, and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implementation of the two-state solution, and to build a better future for Palestinians, Israelis, and all peoples of the region,” the statement said.
According to the declaration, recent developments have “highlighted, once again, and more than ever, the terrifying human toll and the grave implications for regional and international peace and security” caused by the ongoing Middle East conflict.
It added that without “decisive measures towards the two-state solution and robust international guarantees, the conflict will deepen and regional peace will remain elusive.”
In comments made by Turkish officials at the meeting, the following statements were used: “Based on the decades-long Israeli record, handover of weapons by Palestinian armed groups should be closely conditioned to the realization of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital or in accordance with an agreement reached among Palestinian groups as part of the reconciliation process.”
Türkiye, France, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Arab League endorsed the declaration.
‘Gaza must be unified with West Bank’
The statement called for an immediate end to Israel’s war in Gaza, expressing support for efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to bring all parties back to the ceasefire agreement.
It emphasized the importance of implementing all phases of the agreement, including a permanent end to hostilities, the release of all hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the return of all remains, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Following the ceasefire, the declaration also suggested the establishment of a transitional administrative committee to operate in Gaza under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority.
The statement reaffirmed that Gaza is “an integral part of a Palestinian state” and “must be unified” with the occupied West Bank. It emphasized that governance, law enforcement, and security across all Palestinian territories should fall solely under the authority of the Palestinian Authority, with appropriate international support.
The document also welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s “One State, One Government, One Law, One Gun” policy and pledged support for its implementation.
According to the declaration, this includes advancing a disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) process, to be carried out within a framework agreed upon with international partners and under a set timeframe.
The declaration reaffirmed support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security. It backed the Palestinian right to self-determination and said full UN membership for Palestine is essential to any lasting political solution.
International legal action highlighted
The annex to the New York Declaration, summarizing proposals from participating states, calls for full cooperation with international legal bodies.
It urges ICC member states to support the court’s investigation into the situation in Palestine and encourages countries to join the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Horror Graph
- CrossFireArabia
- July 31, 2025
OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
Lazzarini: ‘Constructed, Deliberate Mass Starvation’
- CrossFireArabia
- July 28, 2025
Download UNRWA multimedia resources on malnutrition in children here
A constructed and deliberate mass starvation. Today, more children died, their bodies emaciated by hunger.
The flawed distribution system (GHF) is not designed to address the humanitarian crisis.
It’s serving military and political objectives. It’s cruel as it takes more lives than it saves lives.
Israel controls all aspects of humanitarian access, whether outside or within Gaza.
Airdrops are the most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid. It is a distraction to the inaction.
When bureaucratic and political hurdles are lifted, the humanitarian community has demonstrated it can deliver assistance at scale, in a dignified way, without diversion.
During the ceasefire fire in earlier this year, we succeeded to reverse the deepening hunger.
Today, UNRWA alone has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of food and medical assistance stuck in Egypt and Jordan.
The unfolding famine can only be reversed by a political will.
Make “never again” a reality.
If we fail the Palestinians in Gaza, others are likely to be failed too in the future.
Let’s not set a dangerous and irreversible precedent.
The Youth Who Run For Flour But….
- CrossFireArabia
- July 27, 2025
This is a story posted on linkedin recently by a young man in north Gaza who went with his friend to try and get a bag of flour for his family. His name is Abdalghani Owda and a founder of the Gaza Tech Club. This is his account of that morning, as he ducked through Israeli machine guns, deadly quadcopters and the man whose brain gushed out of his head! In the end he didn’t get the flour but says he hoped to comeback the next day!
“I want to quickly tell you about one of the worst and most difficult days of my life.
Today, Sunday, July 20.
At 8:00 AM, my phone rang. It was my friend.
He said, “Hurry, I’m waiting for you. We need to go to the Zikim area in northern Gaza because trucks carrying flour will be arriving in an hour.”
Without realizing it, I quickly washed my face, got dressed, and flew to my friend’s house, saying, “Oh God!”
Hurry, hurry, let’s walk so we can arrive early and be among the first to take our pick.
As we reached Al-Bahr Street, I found a human flood, perhaps 5 kilometers long.
Everyone was coming to take their share of flour, just like us.
I said, “Come on, I won’t leave. Everyone gets their share, and if we have something, we’ll take it.”
Of course, I didn’t eat breakfast because there was no breakfast.
There was a man selling falafel. A disc was the size of a pill and cost 1 shekel.
That means if I wanted to eat my fill, I’d need 100 shekels (US$29) to truly break my fast.
I bought for 10 shekels, and we said: “Anything is better than nothing.”
We kept walking northward, hoping my friend and I would have a better chance of getting a bag of flour.
The closer we got, the more dangerous the situation became.
The sound of bullets whistling past my head.
The closer I got, the more intense the bullets became.
There was a robotic arm hanging from a very high crane, and it was clearly operating automatically, firing randomly.
The tank was stationary, directly firing at anyone in its path.
My friend and I were barely 150 meters away from the tank.
We were already in a restricted area, but we had to take the risk to have a higher chance of getting flour.
For half an hour, we were hiding in a high earthen embankment to protect us from bullets and artillery shelling.
A short while later, the trucks arrived.
As soon as people attacked to get flour, the quadcopters came out and activated their machine guns. Blood began to flow.
More than five young men around me were killed instantly, in addition to the large number of injuries.
Honestly, I didn’t see any of them, and nothing mattered to me at all except getting home with a bag of flour.
I got very close to the truck, but it was very crowded and the situation was very dangerous.
A shot from the quadcopter hit right under my feet, and I felt it very strongly.
I told myself I had to step back a little.
I stepped back a little.
There was artillery fire, and the truck driver started to move because the truck was empty.
A man, about 40 years old, was standing in front of the truck.
The truck ran over him and drove over his head.
His brain came out of his skull and onto the ground, and the man died instantly.
Of course, I couldn’t get over this scene or this man.
I went to see him, maybe he was someone I knew personally.
It turned out to be someone I didn’t know, but my friend and I grabbed his body and moved it away from the middle of the road. I had a large empty bag with me just in case.
My friend and I picked up the man’s brain that came out of his skull and put it in the bag I had with us. We tried to find some young men to come with us and carry the body.
We put the body on a donkey-drawn cart, which contained a large number of dead bodies and injured people.
Then, within the 10 minutes we spent collecting the dead man, the trucks ran out of flour, leaving nothing left for us to take.
We returned with nothing.
We are waiting for tomorrow to go again, or for God to provide a way out for us and the people of Gaza.
A story I will never forget in my life.
This is a scene from life in Gaza. I am recounting it to you, and the image of the man who was run over by the truck is still etched in my mind and will never leave.
May God have mercy on this man, on all our martyrs, and on all the people of Gaza, and grant them a way out of this great distress and this intense suffering.
