Dubai, Sep 24: Israel’s increasingly isolated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, but no meeting with US President Donald Trump is planned.
Meanwhile, a top European Union official says only a small amount of the funds needed to rebuild the war-shattered Gaza Strip has been collected.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the UN General Assembly is available here.
Netanyahu begins a whirlwind visit to address the UN
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The Israeli prime minister’s brief stay in New York for his speech at the UN General Assembly includes meetings with several world leaders, according to his office — but not Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio or any Arab leaders.
Netanyahu’s office said “many world leaders” asked to meet with him but that he was on a “tight schedule” and needed to return to Israel before the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown on Friday.
Netanyahu will meet with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, and Ethiopia, the vice president of Colombia, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea, according to his office.
The EU says only a fraction of needed Gaza funds have been collected
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A top EU official says only 1 billion euros (USD 1.1 billion) has been raised out of the 71 billion euros (USD 80.8 billion) that the United Nations, the World Bank and the 27-nation European Union estimate are needed to rebuild Gaza.
“All of us, we have to scale up our efforts,” said European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, speaking on the sidelines of the General Assembly. She called for a unified recovery plan that would bring together Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the US-backed Board of Peace, and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
At a meeting of the Gaza board in New York on Wednesday, the group proposed a six-month, USD 2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza as Trump’s ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat.
Earthquake shakes parts of Turkiye and Syria
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A moderate earthquake shook southeast Turkiye and parts of Syria on Thursday, sending people rushing out of buildings in panic. There were no immediate reports of any damage.
The magnitude 5.4 quake was centred in Sanliurfa province, near the border with Syria, according to Turkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces, including Sanliurfa. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria. (AP)
