Uncategorized
The Gaza UN Resolution Is Still a Big Unknown
Illustrative: Members of the United Nations Security Council vote against a resolution by Russia and China to delay by six months the reimposition of sanctions on Iran during the 80th UN General Assembly in New York City, US, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 2803: a plan for the future of Gaza.
An absolute deluge of opinion pieces are currently claiming everything from the worst danger in the world, to a great victory for peace, and everything in between. Yet there’s one thing all of those authors, commenters, and talking heads have in common: as far as we know, none of them have actually read the resolution.
It usually takes several days before the United Nations releases the full text of its resolutions, and 2803 is not yet available as of the time of writing this. What is available? A whole variety of press releases, which apparently form the basis of the chatter from today’s “peanut gallery.”
Therefore, we are going to withhold our analysis of UNSC Resolution 2803 until we’ve actually read it — which is sadly a “radical” approach to the news these days.
In the meantime here’s what we know for certain:
- Resolution 2803 passed unanimously, with China and Russia abstaining;
- Hamas is fiercely opposed to the Resolution, which is probably a good sign;
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking on behalf of Israel, expressed support for the Resolution, even hinting that it may lead to an expansion of the Abraham Accords;
- The Resolution includes vague references to an eventual pathway to a Palestinian state: unlike most commentators, we will analyze this after we’ve actually read it. However, based on that we know so far, the relevant language is apparently highly vague and does not appear to place any real obligations on Israel.
- The Resolution is meant to create some kind of international force in Gaza, but details are murky at present.
- Israel is strongly opposed to Turkey or Qatar playing a direct role in Gaza, and based on non-public sources, we understand the United States is being respectful of this.
- Perhaps the most significant detail of all: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other parties are refusing to join any kind of reconstruction effort unless Hamas is fully disarmed. Therefore, implementation might not even be possible unless the IDF first “prepares the ground” by resuming combat. Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Monday that Gaza will be demilitarized, “the easy way or the hard way.”
Israel has learned the hard way to never outsource its security: the failure of the UN’s “UNIFIL” force in Lebanon is only the most recent and tragic example, and it is not presently clear exactly how Israel will ensure continued safety from Gaza.
One precedent which may apply to Gaza is the Lebanon ceasefire of last year, which allows Israel to carry out strikes against Hezbollah “as needed,” and which Israel has done hundreds of times.
In short, there’s much we don’t know, and until we do, it is premature to either celebrate or panic.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
Uncategorized
UK PM Starmer Says There Could Be New Powers to Ban Pro-Palestinian Marches
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives a media statement at Downing Street in London, Britain, April 30, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor/File photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government could ban pro-Palestinian marches in some circumstances because of the “cumulative effect” the demonstrations had on the Jewish community after two Jewish men were stabbed in London on Wednesday.
Starmer told the BBC that he would always defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, but chants like “Globalize the Intifada” during demonstrations were “completely off limits” and those voicing them should be prosecuted.
Pro-Palestinian marches have become a regular feature in London since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Critics say the demonstrations have generated hostility and become a focus for antisemitism.
Protesters have argued they are exercising their democratic right to spotlight ongoing human rights and political issues related to the situation in Gaza.
Starmer said he was not denying there were “very strong legitimate views about the Middle East, about Gaza,” but many people in the Jewish community had told him they were concerned about the repeat nature of the marches.
Asked if the tougher response should focus on chants and banners, or whether the protests should be stopped altogether, Starmer said: “I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter.”
“I think it’s time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect,” he said, adding that the government needed to look at what further powers it could take.
Britain raised its terrorism threat level to “severe” on Thursday amid mounting security concerns that foreign states were helping fuel violence, including against the Jewish community.
“We are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK,” the head of counter-terrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said in a statement, adding that police were also working “against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors.”
Uncategorized
War Likely to Resume After Trump’s Rejection of Latest Proposal, Says IRGC General
Iranians carry a model of a missile during a celebration following an IRGC attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – A senior Iranian military figure said that fighting with the US was “likely” to resume after President Donald Trump stated he was dissatisfied with Tehran’s latest proposal, regime media reported on Saturday.
The comments of General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, one of the top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, were relayed by the Fars news agency, considered as a mouthpiece of the the powerful paramilitary body.
“Evidence has shown that the Americans do not not adhere to any commitments,” Asadi was quoted as saying.
He further added that Washington’s decision-making was “primarily media-driven aimed first at preventing a drop in oil prices and second at extricating themselves from the mess they have created.”
Iranian armed forces are ready “for any new adventures or foolishness from the Americans,” he said, going to assert that the Iran war would prove for the US a tragedy comparable with what was for Israel the October 7 massacre.
“Just as our martyred Leader said that the Zionist regime will never be the same as before the Al‑Aqsa Storm operation [the name chosen by Hamas leadership for the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel], the United States will also never return to what it was before its attack on Iran,” he said. “The world has understood the true nature of America, and no matter how much malice it shows now, it is no longer the America that many once feared.”
Uncategorized
Trump Says US Navy Acting ‘Like Pirates’ to Carry Out Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports
A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. Photo: CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS
President Donald Trump said on Friday the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in carrying out Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
Trump made the comments while describing the seizure by US forces of a ship a few days ago.
“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said in remarks on Friday evening. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”
Some of Tehran’s vessels have been seized by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.
Iran has blocked nearly all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz apart from its own since the start of the war. Trump has imposed a separate blockade of Iranian ports.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The war has raised oil prices and led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Trump, who has offered shifting timelines and goals for the war that remains unpopular in the US, has faced widespread condemnation over his comments on the conflict, including when he threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilization last month.
Many US experts said last month that American strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes after Trump threatened to target civilian infrastructure.