War, latest news. UN: Netanyahu says, ‘Genocide allegation is the biggest lie of the century. Trump is our best partner’

Benjamin Netanyahu says that the “tyrants of Iran” fear an uprising by the “brave Iranian people”. It is for this reason, he said during his address to the UN, that the government has imposed internet blackouts. The Israeli Prime Minister then showed the assembly a Starlink device and said he wished to leave it with the delegation from Tehran so that, when the Iranian people “inevitably rise up”, they too might freely tell their own story on social media.

Speaking from the podium at the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected allegations of genocide in the Gaza Strip, calling them “the greatest lie of the century” and arguing that Israel had taken unprecedented measures to protect the Palestinian civilian population.

“What genocidal regime administers a million polio vaccinations to the enemy’s population? What genocidal regime allows the distribution of two million tonnes of food to Gaza?”, asked Netanyahu. “Accusing Israel of genocide is the biggest lie of the century”, he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, describing the United States as Israel’s main ally in the war and calling for joint action by the two countries against Iran.

“In this battle against the barbarians, we have had no greater partner than President Trump. I thank him for his courageous leadership,” said Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister argued that Trump had understood “decades ago” the danger posed by Iran and the leadership of the Islamic Republic.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a scathing attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, accusing him of spreading “anti-Semitic lies”, of supporting Hamas and of seeking to extend Turkey’s influence over Syria and Jerusalem.

“The latest country to become a major disseminator of anti-Semitic lies is Turkey. Erdogan is a tyrant,” said Netanyahu. “It also harbours Hamas terrorist leaders. It has killed thousands of Kurdish civilians. It denies the Armenian genocide. It imprisons journalists and opposition leaders,” the Israeli Prime Minister continued.

“7 October 2023 was the darkest day in Israel’s history: the enemy expected us to give in, but we did not; we fought back like lions. For the past three years, our heroic soldiers have been fighting day and night on seven fronts,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his address to the United Nations General Assembly.

Benyamin Netanyahu described the violent settlers as “a handful of young hooligans” in his address to the UN General Assembly.

Dozens of protesters, including the actress Susan Sarandon, were detained by the New York Police Department in Manhattan, where they were demonstrating against the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his address to the United Nations General Assembly. CNN reports that demonstrators from Jewish Voices for Peace, a human rights organisation campaigning for Palestinian rights, gathered in Manhattan to call for an end to Israel’s war and to protest against Netanyahu’s visit to New York. The protesters blocked traffic whilst chanting slogans such as “stop the bombs” and “end the killings”.

Italia will support the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Palestine with a financial contribution of 500,000 euros to the UNDP. This was announced by Antonio Tajani whilst speaking at the ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “We must continue to support the Palestinian National Authority, first and foremost on its difficult path towards reform,” said the Foreign Minister, noting that Italia has contributed 10 million euros to the United Nations Trust Fund and is ready to provide further support for the reform process. Tajani also emphasised that Italia is “at the forefront in Brussels” in pushing for the adoption of new sanctions against settlers. “A future Palestinian state must also be economically sustainable,” he added. For this reason, he stressed, “it is essential that Israel unblocks Palestinian tax revenues and ensures stable banking relations”.

After a 24-day voyage from Germany, the submarine Ins Drakon – regarded as the ‘most secret and most lethal’ – arrived at the naval base in Haifa and officially joined the Israeli Navy. “This sends an important message to all those who seek to threaten us, starting with the bloodthirsty regime of the ayatollahs in Tehran. The State of Israel will continue to strengthen its capabilities to counter threats, whilst our enemies clearly understand a fundamental principle: distance does not guarantee immunity, whether in the air, on land or, even less so, at sea”, declared Defence Minister Israel Katz, who was present at the arrival of Israel’s sixth submarine. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was present at the ceremony, stated that the “Drakon reflects the Navy’s brilliant future. A future that means innovation and immense power”. “Power that we can deploy, and that we will not hesitate to deploy when necessary, even thousands of kilometres from Israel’s borders,” he added.

Protesters both for and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have gathered outside the UN headquarters in New York ahead of his address to the General Assembly.

According to a report in the Times of Israel, Netanyahu’s supporters are booing to drown out the voices of the Prime Minister’s opponents, shouting “shame” in English and chanting the name “Bibi”. Protesters against the Prime Minister are holding up placards bearing the slogan “Stop settler terror” and featuring images of Palestinian victims of the conflict.

“It is right that the Palestinian people’s dream should come true, provided that Israel’s security is guaranteed.” Antonio Tajani made these remarks before taking part in the ‘Two Peoples, Two States’ meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “We hosted one such meeting in July and we are continuing to work to ensure that progress can also be made in Gaza,” explained the Foreign Minister. “We must absolutely prevent violent settlers from continuing to occupy areas that should not be occupied, and we have been very clear on this point. We will do our bit,” emphasised the head of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We welcomed US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, Security Council Resolution 2803 and the roadmap for the implementation of the second phase. The aim was to put an end to the aggression against our people, ensure the withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Gaza Strip and begin the reconstruction of the Strip itself. However, unfortunately, we have seen none of this come to fruition . These lethal attacks continue to claim the lives of men, women and children in Gaza after almost a year.” This was stated by the Palestinian President Abu Mazen in a video message to the UN.

“How much longer will certain states continue to remain silent on Israel or to supply it with the weapons it uses against our people? The world has witnessed the very high price paid in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” This was stated by the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Mahmoud Abbas in a pre-recorded video message sent to the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York after the United States denied him a visa for the second consecutive year.

“What is the international community waiting for to intervene to protect the Palestinian people, to guarantee their right to remain on their own land, to put an end to the Israeli occupation and to implement the two-state solution on the basis of international law?”, Abbas asked. “This solution guarantees peace for all, unlike the threat posed by Israeli extremism, which seeks to expand its colonial project to create the so-called Greater Israel and to completely erase the Palestinian presence,” the PNA leader emphasised.

“The Palestinian people are experiencing one of the most dangerous periods in their history, following many long decades of injustice.” This was stated by the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, in his remote address to the UN General Assembly.

“Our people are being subjected, at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces, to killings, destruction, food deprivation and attempts at displacement, as well as to a genocidal war that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe – the leader denounced – “Neighbourhoods, towns, refugee camps, institutions, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques and churches have been destroyed. All basic necessities have been targeted, as well as the future of entire generations”.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has estimated the cost of rebuilding the Gaza Strip at 71.5 billion dollars, emphasising that this figure could rise should further damage be recorded.

According to the latest UNCTAD report published today, the housing sector accounts for the most extensive damage and is the main item of expenditure for reconstruction. The assessment highlights extensive damage to educational and healthcare facilities, with more than half of hospitals and primary healthcare centres out of service. Less than 1.5 per cent of agricultural land in Gaza remains accessible and undamaged, thereby increasing dependence on humanitarian aid.

Eight members of the US Navy’s crew on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln have attempted suicide since the start of their long deployment as part of the US war against Iran. This was revealed by Hung Cao, acting secretary of the US Navy, in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, first reported by CNN.

“Since the start of the Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the entire strike group,” wrote Cao, responding on behalf of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to Gillibrand’s enquiry regarding the quality of life on board the fleet. “This figure,” he added, “includes the crew of the Lincoln and the sailors of the carrier’s air wing, the strike group and the staff of the destroyer squadron, the escort destroyers and all the embarked air squadrons.”

In the wake of the meeting held in New York by the Board of Peace, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, reiterated that the movement is ready to implement “the roadmap agreed with the Board of Peace regarding the plan for the Gaza Strip”, attributing the delays in the plan’s progress to Israel and to the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump.

“Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has reiterated the movement’s full willingness to implement the roadmap agreed with the Board of Peace regarding the peace plan for the Gaza Strip, emphasising that it has already taken all the necessary steps within its remit,” reads the statement released today.

“The Middle East is in flames, whilst world leaders gather at the United Nations General Assembly. They cannot afford to stand by passively whilst civilians continue to pay the price of war, displacement and destruction, deprived of the most basic conditions for a dignified life.” This is the message from Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Middle East and North Africa, who, in a statement, urge “Member States and the entire international community to act with greater determination and resolve to tackle the multi-crisis in the Middle East. In Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, the civilian population endures daily the brutality of bombardments, confinement, the denial of freedoms and basic necessities, and forced displacement, which continue unchecked in flagrant violation of international law and norms.”

“In Gaza – it is noted – the humanitarian situation remains critical. Despite the ceasefire announced on 10 October 2025, Israeli forces have violated it every day for 337 consecutive days. Since 14 September 2026, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the majority of Gaza’s 2.1 million inhabitants remain displaced, confined to around 30 per cent of the territory of the Gaza Strip, and that only around 40 per cent of the humanitarian funding required for 2026 has been received, with a significant proportion of the population facing severe food insecurity and lacking shelter, water, sanitation and other basic necessities”. “In Lebanon – it is also noted – civilians in border communities have been bombed and forced to flee their homes, as the Israeli army has effectively occupied the south of the country, setting up checkpoints and controlling movement in the area.”

Mojtaba Khamenei, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, has warned of a possible spread of the war “to the Indian Ocean” in the event of a further US attack on Iran. “With the conflict now spreading from the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, it is possible that, in response to a potential war, this front could extend further, as far as the Indian Ocean, or even beyond,” said the adviser, Yahya Rahim Safavi, in a video released by the Fars news agency. Iranian officials had already threatened to expand the conflict geographically should US air strikes resume. But this is the first time that an adviser to the Supreme Leader has explicitly mentioned the Indian Ocean, home to the strategic Anglo-American military base at Diego Garcia.

The Israeli army has killed Mahmoud Abd al-Fattah Awad, a Hamas commander who had been holding seven Israelis hostage. According to the IDF, the Palestinian man was killed in an attack in Gaza City over the weekend. According to the Israeli army, the man had been involved in holding the hostages Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran and Eitan Mor captive inside an underground tunnel in the Gaza City area. The Israeli Defence Forces emphasise that, recently, the Hamas commander “had planned and instigated attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and had acted to restore Hamas’s operational capabilities, in systematic violation of the ceasefire”. The man “was killed in an airstrike in order to neutralise the threat he posed”.

Iranian MPs have tabled a motion of impeachment against Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over his talks with US officials: Ali Khezrian, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, made this statement, asserting that Araghchi “was not authorised to conduct negotiations” with US officials and that the contacts took place outside the framework of the Islamic Republic’s policies. This has been reported by the Iranian dissident websites Iran International and Iran Wire. “Members of parliament have initiated the impeachment proceedings against Araghchi and are pressing ahead with them,” said Khezrian. “The minister will have to appear before parliament upon his return from the trip and explain on what basis this conversation with his American counterpart took place.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the UN General Assembly today. In a video posted on X before his departure for New York, he said he intended to defend Israel and its soldiers from the UN podium. “I will go there to refute these lies. I will defend the truth – the truth about our soldiers and our country,” he said. His arrival in New York comes after reserve soldier Naria Leiter, the son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, was seriously injured yesterday in a vehicle-ramming attack on a checkpoint in the West Bank.

This year, up to the end of June, China has sent around 1,300 air consignments containing drone and missile components to Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing customs data. According to the newspaper, one of these consignments arrived on the very same day in April that the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in the conflict that had begun in February.

According to the Journal, another shipment made two days later carried drone components worth more than $6 million. This follows what the Journal describes as a sharp increase in cargo flights from China to Iran over the course of the year, a trend seen as crucial to sustaining Iran’s arms programmes in the face of heavy US sanctions. Iranian officials did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

The reconstruction of Gaza will require $71.4 billion over the next ten years. This is the estimate released by the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It is significantly higher than the $4–6 billion which, according to the United Nations, would have been needed to rebuild Gaza following the 50-day war in 2014. At a ‘high-level’ briefing attended by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Board’s members outlined what they have proposed as a plan for the first six months of Gaza’s reconstruction. Sixty-six projects are planned, including humanitarian shelters, diesel generators and the reconstruction of hospitals. The Board specified that reconstruction can only begin ‘once funding and access permit’. It is unclear where the funding for the programmes will come from, and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza has not yet entered the Palestinian enclave. For the time being, it is operating from Cairo, in Egypt, without any authority over the territory it is supposed to help govern. In a statement issued after the briefing, the Board for Peace said that “our guiding principles remain clear: Palestinian sovereignty, the protection of rights, geographical unity, the inclusion of every community, transparency in every process and the ability to adapt to ever-changing needs”.

Oil prices are falling today after rising by 4 per cent in the previous session, as Iran has stated that it remains open to diplomacy to end the conflict between the United States and Iran, although the two countries remain far apart on how to achieve this. Brent crude futures fell by 92 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $102.16 per barrel at 04:00 GMT, whilst West Texas Intermediate futures lost 77 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to settle at $91.39.

Iran and the United States remain divided over how to end their conflict, but diplomacy must continue, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday 23 September, after the Iranian president had stated at the United Nations General Assembly that Tehran would never yield to US pressure.

The acting US Secretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, has informed Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group attempted suicide during the lengthy mission, which included military operations against Iran. Cao disclosed the figures – which include the Lincoln’s crew, sailors from its embarked air wing, personnel from the strike group and the destroyer squadron, the crews of the escort destroyers and all the ship-based air wings – in a four-page letter addressed to Gillibrand, a document obtained by The Hill. An aircraft carrier strike group is a formation typically comprising an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, destroyers or frigates, and an air wing equipped with dozens of aircraft. Occasionally, the groups may also include submarines. In the letter, dated Tuesday, Cao stated that no service personnel had taken their own lives during the strike group’s mission. The acting Secretary of the Navy said he was responding on behalf of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and that the armed forces “share your deep commitment” to safeguarding the safety, health and morale of US service personnel. “The men and women of Carrier Strike Group THREE have demonstrated exceptional resolve under challenging conditions,” Cao wrote in response to the letter sent by Gillibrand to Hegseth on 15 August. “Operational decisions to extend deployments are never taken lightly; they are dictated by constantly evolving global security contexts and the absolute necessity to protect US national security interests, as well as our personnel and allies overseas.”

“The Strait of Hormuz must be reopened. In the Gulf, dialogue must be revived and Iran must be called upon to abandon all nuclear threats and all aggressive policies towards other countries in the region,” said Antonio Tajani at the 81st UN General Assembly. “Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea must cease, just as Russia’s reckless attacks on Ukrainian wheat exports to Africa in the Black Sea must come to an end,” the Foreign Minister emphasised.