‘This Is a Genocide’: Thousands Protest in Times Square as Netanyahu Addresses UNGA

Описание: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked traffic near Times Square in New York on Friday (September 26), calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "stop the genocide" in Gaza.

The most right-wing government in Israeli history has made its strongest declaration in years that there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against Hamas following the militants' October 7, 2023, rampage in Israel. Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military response has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, according to local health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.

Netanyahu was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, with U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing a deal to end the Gaza war. Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian enclave on Thursday (September 25), local health authorities said. They included 11 people from two families in Zawayda town in the central Gaza Strip, where planes hit a residential building.

Israel's military did not comment on the incident but said it had struck 170 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours and attacked "terror infrastructure" used by militant groups to attack soldiers. Its forces were deep in Gaza City, it said.

Tanks have entered Gaza City as part of an offensive that Israel says is intended to eliminate Hamas following its deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 but which has caused extensive destruction, a humanitarian catastrophe and widespread hunger.

Netanyahu says Gaza City is the Palestinian militant group's last bastion, but hundreds of thousands of civilians remain there, fearing there is nowhere safe for them to go. He has declared there will never be a Palestinian state although Britain, France, Canada and other nations this week formally recognized Palestinian statehood. Some of Netanyahu's coalition allies want Israel to annex the West Bank.

Israel has become diplomatically isolated over its military siege of Gaza, with European nations and others increasingly critical of its conduct. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court's jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu has retained the backing of the U.S., Israel's most important ally, and Trump told the U.N. this week that moves to recognize a Palestinian state risked rewarding what he called Hamas atrocities and could encourage continued conflict.

Leaving Israel on Thursday, Netanyahu said he would denounce leaders who had recognized a Palestinian state. He said he would discuss the war in Gaza with Trump, including defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. He said he also intended to discuss efforts to expand diplomatic relations with countries that do not officially recognize Israel.

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