ISTANBUL

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including the Gaza-bound flotilla reporting explosions and drone attacks, Arab states calling for an immediate end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Türkiye’s president calling on world leaders at the UN General Assembly to act to help Palestinians, and a UN inquiry commission saying that Israel is seeking permanent control of Gaza while ensuring a Jewish majority in the West Bank and inside Israel.

TOP STORIES

• Global Sumud Flotilla reports explosions and drones as it sails toward Gaza

The Global Sumud Flotilla said its vessels have come under repeated harassment at sea, reporting explosions, unidentified drones and communications jamming as the humanitarian convoy sails toward the Gaza Strip.

In a post on the US social media company X’s platform, the flotilla said the drones appeared “roughly every 10 minutes” over a ship called the Alma, which is part of the convoy looking to reach Gaza and challenge Israel’s illegal blockade.

“We believe these drones are intended to intimidate, potentially gathering intelligence for Israel,” the group said.

The flotilla later described the incidents as “psychological operations” to intimidate activists.

• Arab states call for immediate end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza

Arab countries called for the immediate cessation of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, now nearing its second year.

Kuwait’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, delivered a statement on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during an open session of the UN Security Council held to address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.

Sabah underlined that the meeting was taking place amid one of the darkest chapters of the Gaza tragedy, which has persisted for nearly two years.

He pointed out the dire conditions faced by the defenseless Palestinian population, suffering under a suffocating and unjust blockade, large-scale destruction and the loss of over 60,000 innocent civilians.

• Turkish president calls on world leaders at UN General Assembly to act to help Palestinians

Addressing the UN General Assembly, the Turkish president urged “all world leaders to stand firmly with oppressed Palestinians today in the name of humanity.”

“Today, we are also here at this podium to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people, whose voices are being silenced, together with our own citizens,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan thanked all countries that have recognized Palestine so far and called on those states that have not yet done so “to act without delay.”

He said that for 23 months, Israel has killed one child every hour in Gaza, stressing: “These are not numbers, but innocent people.”

• Israel seeks permanent control of Gaza while ensuring Jewish majority in West Bank, Israel: UN inquiry commission

Israel is seeking permanent control of the Gaza Strip while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said in a new report.

The commission found that Israeli policies since October 2023 show "clear and consistent" intent to "forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand the Israeli Jewish civilian presence and annex the entirety of the West Bank," blocking Palestinian self-determination.

"I am particularly appalled by the Israeli Finance Minister (Bezalel) Smotrich’s recently announced plan of annexing 82 percent of the occupied West Bank, and by the approval of a plan cementing the E1 settlement expansion, with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu asserting that this will ensure there will be no Palestinian state," said Navi Pillay, the commission chair

NEWS IN BRIEF

• French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel will not achieve security or stability as long as a permanent war continues with its neighbors.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China of being “silent and distant” with regards to finding a settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war.
• US President Donald Trump sharply rebuked the United Nations, telling world leaders that the international body is failing to live up to its potential and is facilitating undocumented migration as it pursues a "globalist" agenda.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Russia's war on Ukraine continues to bring "immense suffering and instability" while posing growing regional and global risks.
• South Africa is calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue a ruling that genocide is being committed in Gaza and to order an immediate end to the violence, the nation’s president told the UN General Assembly.
• US President Donald Trump said the prolonged Ukraine war is damaging Russia's image and accused China and India of funding the conflict by buying Russian oil.
• Indonesia is ready to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers in Gaza, President Prabowo Subianto said while addressing the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
• A federal jury convicted Ryan Wesley Routh, 59, of Hawaii, for attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, during the 2024 election campaign.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted the need for reform in the UN system, saying that Türkiye will contribute to this process.
• Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to turn the Arab region into “an Israeli sphere of influence.”
• South Korean President Lee Jae Myung acknowledged that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not possible in the short term amid North Korea's "irreversible" path of achieving a nuclear arsenal.
• European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
• Norwegian police arrested three minors following explosions in the Bislett area of the capital Oslo, local broadcaster NRK reported.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in one of its “darkest chapters" as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate.
• The European Union condemned a recent deadly Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.
• UN experts called on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel's national football team from international competitions, saying it is a "necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory."
• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addressed the UN General Assembly, saying a genocide was occurring in Gaza. He warned that the massacre "would not have happened without the complicity of those who can prevent it."
• At least 14 people were killed and more than 120 are missing after Typhoon Ragasa triggered floods in Taiwan, media reports said.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Fed chair says slowing US job market led to rate cut, sees 'challenging situation' ahead

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said weakness in the job market led to the Fed’s recent rate cut, as the risk in the slowing labor market outweighed inflation concerns.

"Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside – a challenging situation," Powell said in a speech to business leaders in the state of Rhode Island. “Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path.”

The Fed's first rate cut of the year came last week after indications that the labor market is slowing and that the short-term effects of higher tariffs have caused inflation to rise.

• Azerbaijan and Iraq discuss ties, normalization process

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid discussed bilateral relations and the normalization process between their countries at the UN headquarters in New York.

Rashid congratulated Aliyev over the advancement in peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and their normalization agreement signed in Washington, said a statement issued by Azerbaijan’s presidency.

Expressing his gratitude for Rashid's congratulations, Aliyev vowed that Baku will continue its efforts to advance the peace agenda, noting US President Donald Trump's "special" role in the Washington meeting.

The meeting also addressed the role of the intergovernmental commission in developing relations between Baku and Baghdad as well as cooperation in energy, tourism and other fields, the statement added.