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UN Human Rights Experts Want More War in Gaza
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
Political leaders around the globe, including the United Nations’ Secretary-General, have enthusiastically endorsed President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. But there is one UN affiliated group, at the pinnacle of the international law and human rights movement, that is bitterly opposed. These are thirty-odd Special Rapporteurs — experts appointed by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council to investigate specific areas of human rights.
They released a statement detailing no less than 15 ways that they claim the ceasefire agreement violates international law. Their main objection is that it doesn’t create a Palestinian state right away, which in their view must happen no matter what.
Having foreigners as part of a temporary Gaza government, they say, “is regrettably reminiscent of colonial practices and must be rejected.” They claim that the international stabilization force “would replace Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation.” They simply ignore the harm a Palestinian state in Gaza with Hamas back in charge would cause Israel, let alone the further oppression it would bring to Gaza residents.
The UN experts also add purported international law violations that go much further. They object to Gaza being demilitarized, claiming that doing so could leave it vulnerable to future Israeli aggression. There is no worry about how if Gaza was to rearm with rockets and tunnels, Hamas or other Palestinian factions might launch a repeat of the Oct. 7 massacre.
On the other hand, according to the UN officials, since Israel “has committed international crimes against the Palestinians and threatened peace and security in the region through aggression against other countries,” Israel should be demilitarized instead.
Even setting aside whether those accusations against Israel are true, the rapporteurs express no concern for how a demilitarized Israel would be liable to destruction at the hands of Iran or Hezbollah, and of course also be vulnerable to future Hamas massacres.
They are also upset that President Trump’s plan does not order Israel to pay Gaza reparations for the recent war. They ignore that paragraph 10 calls for Gaza investment and redevelopment. Perhaps they are disappointed because their true aim in reparations is not to find resources to rebuild Gaza, but rather to pose ruinous demands they can use to punish Israel and sabotage its economy. The group conveniently leaves out reparations that Gaza should pay to Israel for the Oct. 7 attack, and their thousands of illegal missile strikes targeting civilians going back years.
The rapporteurs solemnly note that, “Imposing an immediate peace at any price, regardless of or brazenly against law and justice, is a recipe for further injustice, future violence and instability.” This statement aims to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The statement itself lays the groundwork for future violence by claiming that the current ceasefire is illegal and unjust.
And sure enough, the rapporteurs’ statement is being quoted extensively in the anti-Israel press to claim that in spite of the ceasefire, Palestinians are still aggrieved victims entitled to resist. For example, Israel-Palestine News used the rapporteurs’ statement as a basis for an article blasting the peace plan. Middle East Eye did the same, along with the Oman Observer and the Pakistani website Jamaat-E-Islami Foreign Affairs.
It’s inevitable that Palestinian or human rights advocates may be concerned or disappointed with the terms of the ceasefire, just as many Israelis have concerns and misgivings as well. But the agreement has received nearly unanimous international acceptance because it represents the reality of what is militarily, politically, and economically attainable. Outrageous demands such as that Israel give up its army or bankrupt itself through reparations only serve to undermine negotiations and prolong the conflict.
Anyone who clings to maximal, impossible demands and refuses to make reasonable compromises becomes an enemy of peace. That’s true even if they believe those demands are based on justice.
Now is the time to tell protestors and activists around the world to tone down their rhetoric, turn towards building a better future, and accept that in order to do so, both sides will have to let go of many past grievances and accept that some wrongs will never be righted. It’s appalling that some of the world’s most esteemed human rights experts are trying to perpetuate the conflict, using unreasonable demands to justify more violence instead.
Shlomo Levin is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah, and he uses short fiction and questions to explore human rights at https://shalzed.com/
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Herzog Says Wellbeing of Israelis His Only Concern in Deal With Netanyahu’s ‘Extraordinary’ Pardon Request
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Latvia, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
i24 News – In an interview with Politico published on Saturday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog remained tight-lipped on whether he intended to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extraordinary” pardon request, saying that his decision will be motivated by what’s best for Israel.
“There is a process which goes through the Justice Ministry and my legal adviser and so on. This is certainly an extraordinary request and above all when dealing with it I will consider what is the best interest of the Israeli people,” Herzog said. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority.”
Asked specifically about President Donald Trump’s request, Herzog said “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” adding, “Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country.”
Herzog addressed a wide range of topics in the interview, including the US-Israel ties and the shifts in public opinion on Israel.
“One has to remember that the fountains of America, of American life, are based on biblical values, just like ours. And therefore, I believe that the underlying fountain that we all drink from is the same,” he said. “However, I am following very closely the trends that I see in the American public eye and the attitude, especially of young people, on Israel.”
“It comes from TikTok,” he said of the torrent of hostility toward Israel that has engulf swathes of U.S. opinion since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, “from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture, which is, is Israel a strategic ally? Yes. Is Israel contributing to American national interests, security interests? Absolutely yes. Is Israel a beacon of democracy in the Middle East? Absolutely yes.”
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Syria’s Sharaa Charges Israel ‘Exports Its Crises to Other Countries’
FILE PHOTO: Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday escalated his messaging against Israel at the Doha forum.
“Israel is working to export its own crises to other countries and escape accountability for the massacres it committed in the Gaza Strip, justifying everything with security concerns,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Syria, since its liberation, has sent positive messages aimed at establishing the foundations of regional stability.
“Israel has responded to Syria with extreme violence, launching over 1,000 airstrikes and carrying out 400 incursions into its territory. The latest of these attacks was the massacre it perpetrated in the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside, which claimed dozens of lives.
“We are working with influential countries worldwide to pressure Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied after December 8, 2014, and all countries support this demand.
“Syria insists on Israel’s adherence to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The demand for a demilitarized zone raises many questions. Who will protect this zone if there is no Syrian army presence?
“Any agreement must guarantee Syria’s interests, as it is Syria that is subjected to Israeli attacks. So, who should be demanding a buffer zone and withdrawal?”
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Turkey’s Fidan: Gaza Governance Must Precede Hamas Disarmament in Ceasefire Deal
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2025. Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Saturday that not advancing the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to its next stage would be a “huge failure” for the world and Washington, noting that President Donald Trump had personally led the push.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Fidan said a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force needed to be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was prepared to hand over control of the enclave.
“First of all, we need to see that the Palestinian committee of technical people are taking over the administration of Gaza, then we need to see that the police force is being formed to police Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not Hamas.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza. It played a key role in brokering the ceasefire deal, signing the agreement as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the accord’s implementation, a move Israel strongly opposes.
Talks to advance the next phase of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year conflict in Gaza are continuing.
The plan envisages an interim technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave, overseen by an international “board of peace” and supported by a multinational security force. Negotiations over the composition and mandate of that force have proven particularly difficult.
Fidan said the Gaza police force would be backed by the international stabilisation force. He added that Washington was pressing Israel over Turkey’s bid to join the force, to which it has voiced readiness to deploy troops if needed.
FIDAN SAYS KURDISH SDF IN SYRIA NOT WILLING TO INTEGRATE
Asked about a landmark deal in March in which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus agreed that the SDF would be integrated into Syria’s state structures, Fidan said signals from the SDF showed it had “no intention” of honouring the accord, and was instead seeking to sidestep it.
Ankara, which considers the SDF a terrorist organisation, has threatened military action if it does not comply, setting a deadline of the end of the year.
“I think they (SDF) should understand that the command and control should come from one place,” Fidan added. “There can be no two armies in any given country. So there can only be one army, one command structure … But in local administration, they can reach a different settlement and different understandings.”
Almost a year after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, Fidan said some issues of minority rights were unresolved, insisting that Turkey’s backing of the new Syrian government was not a “blank cheque” to oppress any groups.
He said Damascus was taking steps toward national unity, but that Israeli “destabilisation policies” were the chief obstacle.
Israel has frequently struck southwestern Syria this year, citing threats from militant groups and the need to protect the Druze community near the frontier. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he expected Syria to establish a demilitarised buffer zone from Damascus to the border.
TURKEY: U.S. COULD REMOVE SANCTIONS ‘VERY SOON’
Fidan also said Washington’s initial 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was just a “starting point,” and that it was now evolving in a new format. He said mediation by US officials was “on the right path.”
“I just hope that nobody leaves the table and the Americans are not frustrated, because sometimes the mediators can be frustrated if they don’t see enough encouragement from both sides.”
Asked about efforts to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, he said both sides were working on it, adding: “I believe we’ll soon find a way to remove that obstacle.”