{"id":257035,"date":"2025-09-26T21:24:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/257035\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T21:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:24:20","slug":"protests-calls-for-sanctions-greet-netanyahu-at-un-amid-gaza-horrors-united-nations-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/257035\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests, calls for sanctions greet Netanyahu at UN amid Gaza horrors | United Nations News"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City<\/strong> \u2013 Thousands of New Yorkers joined world diplomats in giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder as he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).<\/p>\n

Protesters on Friday morning rallied against the Israeli prime minister on the streets of New York City as dozens of delegates marched out of the UN Assembly hall when he began his speech on the fourth day of the General Debate.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

And blocks away, diplomats representing countries across the world were meeting as part of the Hague Group to discuss taking concrete measures against Israel, including sanctions, for its nearly two-year assault on Gaza.<\/p>\n

Al-Sharif Nassef, who was participating in the New York protest, said it was a \u201cshame\u201d that Netanyahu was in the city instead of The Hague to answer to his alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for him last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the New Yorkers who are here today support his arrest. He is not welcome here,\u201d Nassef told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Inshallah [God willing], under the new mayorship, he will be arrested as soon as he steps forward in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamadani<\/a>\u00a0promised to enforce the ICC\u2019s arrest warrant against Netanyahu. But the US is not a party to the tribunal, so it is not clear whether the New York Police Department has the legal power to detain the Israeli prime minister.<\/p>\n

\"NewProtesters hold an effigy of Netanyahu in handcuffs in New York City, September 26 [Ali Harb\/Al Jazeera]\u2018Is baby formula Hamas?\u2019<\/p>\n

After Netanyahu finished his speech, protesters marched from Times Square to a park near the UN complex<\/a> on the East River.<\/p>\n

They waved Palestinian flags and chanted \u201cfree Palestine\u201d and \u201carms embargo now\u201d as the demonstration snaked through the streets amid heavy police presence.<\/p>\n

Some demonstrators also displayed the flags of Colombia and Ireland \u2013 two countries that have been vocal in their support for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Nasreen Issa, a member of the Palestine Youth Movement \u2013 NYC, which helped organise the march, said the large turnout sends a message that it is \u201cunacceptable\u201d for the US to roll out the red carpet for Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

Issa said that demonstrations work even if their effects are not immediately felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtests play an important role in generating the political will that can make real change happen,\u201d the activist told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Meagan Fredette held a cardboard sign that said, \u201cIs baby formula Hamas???\u201d to highlight the Israeli restrictions on basic food items in Gaza, which have plunged the territory into deadly famine<\/a>, according to a UN-backed monitor.<\/p>\n

Fredette said she feels \u201cdisgusted\u201d as a New Yorker that Netanyahu is in her city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel angry. It\u2019s embarrassing that he\u2019s here. He doesn\u2019t deserve to be here,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cHe\u2019s a literal, wanted criminal. New Yorkers were not happy that he\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the demonstrators arrived outside the security perimeter at the UN, they encountered about a dozen counterprotesters waving Israeli flags.<\/p>\n

But law enforcement officers separated the two sets of protesters and confined the small pro-Israel rally to a barricaded area.<\/p>\n

When a man with an Israeli flag started shouting obscenities at the anti-Netanyahu demonstrators, the police quickly intervened and ordered him to move away from the protest.<\/p>\n

Broadcasting Netanyahu\u2019s speech through Palestinian phones<\/p>\n

Inside the UN General Assembly hall earlier, Netanyahu addressed<\/a> a room that was partly emptied by the walkout, and he received applause that came only from one area on the upper level of the room.<\/p>\n

Asked whether the people\u00a0clapping for Netanyahu were guests of the Israeli mission,\u00a0Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio<\/a>\u00a0Guterres<\/a>, only said,\u00a0\u201cEvery delegation is allowed to bring in guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s office said on X that the prime minister had ordered the hacking of the phones of Palestinians in Gaza to stream his speech on the devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an unprecedented action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2026 has announced that the [Israeli military] took control of the telephones of Gaza residents and Hamas members, and that his speech is now being broadcast live via the telephones,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

His office also posted on social media that the Israeli military broadcast the address on a loudspeaker to the starving and beleaguered population of the territory.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera asked Dujarric for a reaction to a UN function being used as a tool to taunt an entire population, but he declined to respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no specific comment on that,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the focus should be on alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people, getting more humanitarian aid in, and getting the hostages out,\u201d Dujarric added.<\/p>\n

Israel has killed more than 65,500 people in Gaza, including approximately 20,000 children<\/a>, and turned nearly the entire territory into rubble.<\/p>\n

The UNGA is meeting this year amid growing international anger at Israel\u2019s conduct. Several Western countries that are traditionally allied with Israel recognised the state of Palestine during the assembly.<\/p>\n

\"PalestinePalestine solidarity protesters gather in New York City\u2019s Times Square as Netanyahu speaks at the UN, September 26 [Ali Harb\/Al Jazeera]Hague group meeting<\/p>\n

On Friday, diplomats from 24 countries \u2013 part of the Hague Group, which aims to halt the war on Gaza \u2013 called for action to stop the atrocities beyond statements and symbolism.<\/p>\n

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, urged tangible moves against Israel, including sanctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are out of time because if we fail to act, children are killed,\u201d Mansour told a Hague Group meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalestinian children are killed, starved, orphaned, burned and traumatised, families are shattered, life is destroyed, lands are stolen and territories are annexed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mansour also called for international support for South Africa\u2019s genocide case<\/a> against Israel at the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n

The meeting included representatives from Colombia, South Africa, Qatar, Turkiye, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ireland, Spain and Uruguay.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned against failing to stop Israeli atrocities.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational law requires states not only to refrain from committing genocide<\/a>, but also to prevent it. Failure to do so may give rise to state responsibility, including for complicity in genocide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime has come for States to fulfil their obligations under the Genocide Convention by adopting effective measures to ensure that they do not, directly or indirectly, collaborate with its perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City \u2013 Thousands of New Yorkers joined world diplomats in giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":257036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,372,70,13191,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,1206,67,586,132,5230,68,72,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-257035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","10":"tag-gaza","11":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-united-nations","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-canada","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115272709862571266","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}