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US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on "a pathway to peace and achieving a two-state solution" today (Thursday). In his remarks Schumer called for the holding of new elections in Israel, saying that "Netanyahu has lost his way". He further called the Israeli Prime Minister an "obstacle to peace." According to Schumer, Netanyahu is one of four obstacles to peace, among others being Hamas, "radical Israelis", and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Schumer's criticism of Netanyahu centered on the prime minister's "outright" rejection of the idea of creation of a Palestinian state in the aftermath of October...

The growing ties between Tehran and Moscow come as Iran has increased its military activity against Israel through attacks by its proxy groups: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Russia is deepening its ties with global forces of destabilization, chiefly Iran, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, told the General Assembly on Monday. Erdan's comments came ahead of the parley Moscow is holding this week with Palestinian factions, including Hamas. “This week, Russia will be hosting a Hamas delegation in Moscow! And not for the first time!” Erdan told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, which...

In a three-part interview with Kuwaiti podcaster Amar Taki, posted during the second week of January 2024, Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas abroad, rejected the two-state solution. He said that there is a consensus among Palestinians that they will not give up their rights to Palestine from the Mediterranean River to the Mediterranean Sea. Mashal said that October 7 has renewed this dream and hope and shown that it is a realistic idea, not merely a dream. He stated that taking control of the Gaza Strip following the 2006 elections was necessary in order to build up the resistance,...

Much has justly been written about the Obama administration’s mishandling of Israeli-Palestinian talks. But it’s important to remember that the real barrier to an agreement isn’t flawed American diplomacy but rather the Palestinians’ refusal to accept Israel’s right to exist. Nothing better illustrates this fact than a stunning new poll by The Israel Project. Like every other poll in recent years, TIP found that a strong majority of Palestinians (60 percent) accept a two-state solution. This unvarying finding is often cited as proof that Palestinians do, in fact, accept Israel’s existence. But unlike any other poll I’ve ever seen, TIP...

The relationship between the US and Israel is growing more strained as they clash over key policy demands The US has called on Israel to scale back their bombardment and begin plans for the post-war landscape But Netanyahu accused his 'American friends' of trying to 'coerce' them and said 'we will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory' The rift between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu deepened on Thursday as the Israeli Prime Minister accused the US of trying to 'coerce' Israel. In an interview on national TV, Netanyahu rejected US calls to scale back Israel´s military offensive...

Vassily Nebenzia says UN Security Council should restart peace talks ‘with a view to establishing a Palestinian state’. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip and Israel, while blaming the United States for the continuing conflict. -snip- “We’re convinced that the Security Council must act to put an end to the bloodshed and restart peace negotiations with a view to establishing a Palestinian state as it was supposed to do so long ago,” Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after the closed-door meeting of the Security Council on Friday.

Palestinian group Hamas early Saturday hailed Russia’s rejection of an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip. “We appreciate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on the ongoing aggression against our people and his rejection of the Gaza siege, cutting off relief supplies, and targeting safe civilians there,” Hamas said in a statement. The group also welcomed Russian efforts “to stop the barbaric and systematic aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza.” Putin warned on Friday that civilian casualties will be "absolutely unacceptable" in case of an Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Russia's foreign ministry urged Israel on Thursday to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza to allow in food and medicine and said it was unacceptable that what it called the "indiscriminate" bombing of the Gaza Strip was causing so many civilian casualties. Moscow issued the statement after Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov spoke to Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), by phone. The Russian foreign ministry said Bogdanov and Al-Sheikh had agreed on the need for a ceasefire and for the opening of human corridors to deliver food and medicine to Gaza's...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised calls to the Palestinians to leave the besieged Gaza Strip and head to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as “something that could lead to peace”, adding that Gaza is part of the historical land of Palestine. “It is difficult to give assessments. This is the land on which the Palestinians live, and this is their land historically. It was also supposed to be where an independent Palestinian state would be established that would include Gaza. In my opinion, this is not something that can lead to peace,” he said. -snip- “There is a clear plan that...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be "absolutely unacceptable". -snip- "Russia is ready to coordinate with all constructively minded partners," Putin said. He said negotiations should be directed towards a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict in which Palestinians would get their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

After the ceasefire, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should take seriously its obligation to implement its resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Speaking to the press after the meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Foreign Ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that he hoped that with the end of hostilities, Palestine and Israel would return to implementing United Nations (UN) resolutions. "We hope that after the ceasefire, everyone will take seriously the obligation to implement the UN Security Council resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state," he...

@ggreenwald On Monday night, Tucker Carlson argued that while all decent people view Hamas' massacre of civilians with revulsion (and only the most marginalized people have praised it), this is not an American war, but an Israeli war. Ben Shapiro responded here to that argument

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said Israel's blockade and bombing of Gaza in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas' attack was a disproportionate response amounting to a "massacre," but repeated Ankara's offer to mediate. -snip- "Preventing people meeting their most fundamental needs and bombing housing where civilians live - in short, conducting a conflict using every sort of shameful method - is not a war, it's a massacre," he said, referring to Israel cutting off electricity and water to Gaza and destroying infrastructure.

Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian starts a regional tour on Thursday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict involving trips to Iraq and Lebanon, Iranian state media said. "In light of the current Palestinian events, the crimes committed against Gaza and their dangerous ramifications, the foreign minister's regional trip will start today", Iran's ambassador in Lebanon said on social media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the recent outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, asserting that the failure of the US policy in the Middle East, which neglected Palestine's legitimate need for an Independent State, is to be blamed for the latest attack on the West Asian nation. -snip- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged a swift ceasefire in a conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Israel took some "genuinely Palestinian lands" mainly through the "use of military force." Speaking at the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow, Putin said the Palestinian problem is "in the heart of everyone who professes Islam, and they perceive it all as a manifestation of injustice, elevated to an unthinkable degree." "The Palestinian issue is at the heart of every person in this region. Yes, I believe that in the heart of everyone who professes Islam... Everything that is happening – not only now, but for decades – is perceived as a...

Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first comments on the recent attack by Hamas on Israel during talks in Moscow with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani on Oct. 10. During the meeting, which was filmed by Russian state-owned media, Putin claimed that the situation was "a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East." Putin alleged that the U.S. has not taken into account "the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people," adding that it is necessary to create an "independent sovereign Palestinian state."This requires the implementation of "the decisions of the UN Security Council" on the...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that talks on a two-state solution that provided for the peaceful co-existence of Israel and the Palestinians were the only way forward once hostilities had ended. Lavrov was speaking at a news conference in Moscow alongside Ahmed Aboul Gheit, chief of the Arab League. Gheit said there would be more wars unless Israel changed its stance on the Palestinians.

David Friedman, the former US ambassador to Israel, commented on Sunday on the push to pass legislation to repeal the use of the reasonableness standard tweeting: "Given the striking parallels between Israel’s current internal rift and the infighting that caused the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, why would the Israeli government proceed with its Judicial Reform bill on the eve of Tisha B’Av? Very bad timing." Friedman, who is Jewish, was appointed to serve as the UN ambassador to Israel by former US President Donald Trump - and served in the position between May 2017 and January...

US President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s speech at the UN General Assembly, in which he expressed support for a “two-state solution” for the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict. “I welcome Prime Minister Lapid's courageous statement at the UN General Assembly: ‘An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy, and for the future of our children,’” ...