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Israel’s UN Ambassador Accuses Security Council of ‘Whitewashing’ Terrorist Crimes After Gaza War Vote
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan addresses the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations accused the UN Security Council (UNSC) of “whitewashing” the crimes of terrorists in a speech to the body on Friday.
After the US introduced a resolution to the UNSC calling for a temporary ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan addressed the international body.
The resolution, which called for a six-week break in fighting, was vetoed by China and Russia because the ceasefire would only be temporary. The measure included a call for the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas, and it did not condemn plans for Israel to operate in Rafah — the Palestinian terrorist group’s last stronghold in Gaza.
In response, Erdan said, “The American resolution – should it have passed – would have marked a moment of morality for the UN, a place where good is evil, and justice is injustice. It would have been the very first time that this council — or any UN body — condemned Hamas and their brutal massacre.”
“Yet sadly,” he continued, “for purely political reasons, this resolution did not pass, and terrorists can continue benefiting from this council whitewashing their crimes.”
Erdan took aim at the international community for repeating Hamas-supplied casualty numbers uncritically. “Numbers supplied by the terrorists are thrown around and quoted as if they are word of God. Yet in essence, these numbers are merely the lies of Hamas that the UN is so quick to parrot,” he said.
Analysis of Hamas’ numbers suggests they systematically overcount civilian casualties.
In response to the veto, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “For all the fiery rhetoric, we all know that Russia and China are not doing anything diplomatically to advance a lasting peace or to meaningfully contribute to the humanitarian response effort.”
This is the latest in a long line of Security Council resolutions about the Israel-Hamas war where the US does not see eye to eye with China and Russia.
Within 10 days of the war starting, the US vetoed a China-backed resolution that called for humanitarian pauses to the fighting because it did not mention Israel’s right to self-defense. Then, about a month later, the US abstained from a resolution that called for a ceasefire to allow for Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. And, in early December, the US vetoed another China-backed resolution that called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza because a ceasefire would allow Hamas to stay in power and, thus, do nothing to prevent future war.
Erdan argued too much of the international community does not understand the truth about the war. “For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy!” he said. “For Hamas, civilian deaths are a strategy. And sadly, you are playing into Hamas’ strategy exactly as they predicted. Condemn the tunnels under schools! Condemn the exploitation of hospitals for terror! Hold Hamas accountable!”
Since Hamas launched the war with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, Israeli officials have lambasted UN leadership for what they described as emboldening Hamas and maintaining a bias against the Jewish state.
The post Israel’s UN Ambassador Accuses Security Council of ‘Whitewashing’ Terrorist Crimes After Gaza War Vote first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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