A map presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly sparked widespread controversy and accusations of erasing Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's presentation of a map of the "New Middle East" in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly sparked widespread controversy and resentment after it erased the existence of Palestine.
Netanyahu delivered a speech before the assembly that focused on the prospects and effects of normalization and peace with Arab countries, and his role in changing the Middle East.
During the speech, he showed a map that included areas covered in dark green for countries that have peace agreements with Israel or are engaged in negotiations to conclude peace agreements with Israel.
The areas covered in green included the countries of Egypt, Sudan, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan.
The map did not include any mention of the existence of a Palestinian state, as the blue color, bearing the word Israel, dominated the entire map of the occupied West Bank, including the Gaza Strip.
"New Middle East"
Netanyahu said in his speech that Israel is close to signing a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, considering the Abrahamic Accords a “historic turning point,” stressing that his country “shares many interests with several Arab countries.”
Netanyahu stressed that signing a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia will change the entire map of the Middle East and create a new Middle East, as he put it, adding that this can be achieved under the leadership of US President Joe Biden.
He also confirmed that he discussed with Biden two days ago a “vision for peace,” without specifying whether this vision would include a solution to the Palestinian issue or not.
"The longest occupation in history"
Resentment and criticism
Netanyahu's new map caused a wave of comments on social media.
Palestinian Ambassador to Germany Laith Arafa wrote: “There is no greater insult to every founding principle of the United Nations than to see Netanyahu presenting before the UN General Assembly (a map of Israel) that extends over the entire land from the river to the sea, thus denying Palestine and its people.”
Israeli analyst Yonatan Tuval described Netanyahu as a “fraudster,” tweeting on the Swindler about an Israeli con man who frames women.
Israel has concluded four peace agreements during the past four years with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
The Lebanese army responds with gas bombs to attacks by Israeli forces on the border
The Lebanese army said that it fired tear gas at Israeli forces on the border on Saturday in response to attacks on its forces, while Israel claimed that the Lebanese side was the one who started the clashes.
The Lebanese army confirmed that it responded to attacks by Israeli forces that fired smoke bombs at its forces on the southern border, but Israel said that it was the Lebanese side that started the clashes.
The army said in a statement: “Members of the Israeli enemy violated the withdrawal line and fired smoke bombs towards a Lebanese army patrol while accompanying a bulldozer removing a dirt berm erected by the Israeli enemy north of the withdrawal line (the reserved blue line) in the Bastara region - the south.”
The current dividing line between the two countries is known as the Blue Line, and was drawn by the United Nations between Lebanon on the one hand and Israel and the occupied Golan Heights on the other hand on June 7, 2000. The line is not an international border, but it was established with the aim of “verifying the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon” when it left south... Lebanon in 2000.
The statement added: "The patrol members responded to the attack by firing tear gas bombs at the enemy members, forcing them to withdraw to the occupied Palestinian territories."
On the other hand, the Israeli army said that Lebanon was the one who started the violence. He added in a statement, "A short while ago, IDF soldiers spotted an engineering bulldozer crossing the Blue Line from Lebanon into Israeli territory in the Mount Dov area. In response, IDF soldiers used riot dispersal means." The army continued: “The vehicle returned to Lebanese territory.”
For its part, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed in the region indicated that there is tension today.
Force spokesman Andrea Tenenti said: “UNIFIL is in contact with both parties to calm tensions and prevent any misunderstandings. At the present moment, we are on the ground, monitoring the situation and trying to restore calm to the area.”
For its part, the official Lebanese News Agency said that "hostile Israeli forces threw smoke and sound bombs at a Lebanese army force."
She explained that the Lebanese force was "accompanying a bulldozer working to remove rubble thrown by enemy bulldozers in the liberated lands of Bastra Farm, one of the Shebaa farms, during the sweeping operations it carried out two days ago."
According to the agency, "Members of the Lebanese army patrol at the scene fired several smoke bombs toward the members of the enemy patrol."
Since mid-July, the border area between Lebanon and Israel has witnessed security tension, due to attempts by Israeli forces to bulldoze land and build a concrete wall in the area, which the Lebanese side rejects, because the area is occupied by Israel, and this was accompanied by the launching of missiles from an unknown direction into Israel.
On July 11, Lebanon submitted an official complaint to the United Nations against Israel against the backdrop of its “consolidation” of its occupation of the Lebanese part of the border town of Ghajar.
Israel seized this town from Syria in June 1967. It is located at the foot of Mount Hermon in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel annexed.
The Ghajar residents protested against the Blue Line drawn by the United Nations after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000. It was considered a border and divided their village into two parts, two-thirds in Lebanon and the rest in the Golan.
After an occupation that lasted more than two decades, Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, and the United Nations determined the “Blue Line” to confirm the withdrawal, but Lebanon reserves 13 border points controlled by Israel on the 87 km long land border.
Israeli planes bombed a Hamas site in Gaza and injuries occurred in demonstrations near the separation fence
Gaza: On Saturday evening, Israeli warplanes bombed a military point belonging to the Hamas movement in the eastern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli raid came after demonstrations in which dozens of young men participated near the separation fence, during which 3 Palestinians were injured by Israeli army bullets.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said, in a statement, that “three Palestinians were injured by Israeli army bullets near the fence separating the Gaza Strip and arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” without clarifying the nature of the injuries.
The Israeli army fired live, rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters towards the demonstrators to disperse them.
Dozens of Palestinian youth went out on Saturday in continuous demonstrations for the seventh day in a row near the separation fence.
The demonstrations come at the call of young men who call themselves “Revolutionary Youth” on social media, denouncing the settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the ongoing violations in the West Bank, and the continued siege of Gaza.