- 22 Sep 2025 - 23:59(23:59 GMT)
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Read more about France’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine before a UN General Assembly meeting here.
Watch an Australian medic working at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital describe treating patients in barely functional medical facilities.
Find out how Palestinians are reacting to the recognition of their statehood here.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 23:50(23:50 GMT)
Recap
We will be closing this live page shortly. But before we do, here’s a recap of the day’s major developments:
- France, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco have become the latest countries to recognise the state of Palestine.
- At a conference to discuss a two-state solution, French President Macron said: “We have gathered here because the time has come”.
- Palestinian President Abbas has said Hamas will have no role in the governance of Gaza and asked the group to hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
- At least 37 people were killed across Gaza by the Israeli army.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital and the St John Eye Hospital in Gaza City are out of service due to Israeli bombing of their surrounding areas.
- Israel’s Foreign Ministry has threatened a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and trying to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory, warning that it will “not allow the naval blockade of Gaza to be breached”.
- Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, released a video of Israeli captive Alon Ohel, who has been held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 23:45(23:45 GMT)
Cuba, Egypt hail UK recognition of Palestinian state
Cuba’s embassy in London writes on X that Ambassador Ismara Walter “was honoured to attend the historic flag-raising at the Embassy of the State of Palestine”.
“A momentous step. For decades, Cuba has stood in principled solidarity with the Palestinian people, and we do so today with profound respect and joy. Congratulations!”
The Egyptian embassy in the UK posted: “We are happy to join the celebration of raising the flag of Palestine high in UK skies, in front of the Palestine mission to the UK.”
The Palestinian mission itself described the flag-raising as “a historic day, a new chapter in the Palestinian struggle for freedom and sovereignty, … a first step towards correcting past injustices.”
Advertisement - 22 Sep 2025 - 23:30(23:30 GMT)
WHO says destruction of Gaza clinics will ‘cause more deaths’
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has condemned an Israeli strike on a health facility in Gaza City, which he said reduced it “to rubble”.
“Today’s attack on a Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) primary health care centre in Gaza City turned it into rubble,” he said on X.
“Two health workers were reportedly injured. It was among Gaza City’s few functioning facilities, providing blood donation and testing services, trauma care, cancer medications and chronic disease treatment.”
He added that the strike “reportedly came just 30 minutes after a warning to evacuate”.
Tedros warned that “the continued destruction of Gaza City’s health facilities will cause more deaths and further overwhelm already overcrowded hospitals in the south”, stressing that “attacks on health facilities must end” and “the senseless violence must stop”.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 23:15(23:15 GMT)
UN expert says Palestinian recognition carries legal significance
The UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, said that the recognition of Palestine carries real weight, as it solidifies the territory’s rights under international law.
“As more Western states join the world majority in recognising the State of Palestine, it must be clear that recognition increases the obligation to actively respect Palestine’s rights to non-interference, territorial integrity, self-defence from illegal occupation, end of genocide,” she wrote on X.
Albanese has long condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestine. In June 2025, the UN published her report stating that the genocide in Gaza was continuing because it is lucrative for 48 business corporations, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 23:00(23:00 GMT)
Recognition of Palestine must be matched with pressure on Israel
The recognition of a Palestinian state is important.
We really need to recognise the fact that recognition of Palestine is important from a number of important countries. They have been procrastinating for at least two years, certainly since the war in Gaza began.
They’ve been procrastinating because they have to reach decisions by consensus.
Certain individual countries have taken action, but the likes of France and Britain have not really taken serious action in order to dissuade Israel, in order to convince Israel to end the war in Gaza, and to accept that principle of a Palestinian state or at least to engage in serious negotiations with the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] over the future of the two-state solution.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:45(22:45 GMT)
Belgium sets conditions as it recognises Palestinian statehood
As we’ve reported, Belgium has recognised the state of Palestine.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said the decision was prompted by the worsening situation on the ground in Gaza.
“It is clearly the moment to stand by the Palestinian people and recognise the state as a strong political sign,” Prevot said.
However, Belgium’s recognition of statehood comes with several conditions, including reforming the Palestinian Authority and substituting its leadership.
Prevot also said that statehood would only be formally recognised by royal decree when all captives held by Hamas are released.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:35(22:35 GMT)
Qatar says recognising Palestine comes as Israel’s ‘aggression’ escalating
Sultan bin Saad bin Sultan al-Muraikhi, Qatar’s state foreign affairs minister, has stressed the importance of establishing “Palestinian statehood with sovereignty”.
Speaking at the summit on Palestinian recognition, al-Muraikhi said the meeting was happening in the “historic context of decades of injustice” due to the occupation of Palestinian land, alongside Israel’s “escalatory aggression” in the region.
“My country, our capital Doha, has been subjected to a treacherous Israeli aggression that violated its territorial integrity, led to the killing of six martyrs and put the entire region to the brink of danger,” he said.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:30(22:30 GMT)
Palestinian foreign ministery praises France’s recognition
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed France’s recognition of the state of Palestine, calling it a “historic and courageous decision” that “supports efforts to achieve peace and implement the two-state solution”.
The ministry commended President Macron’s efforts to mobilise international support for the recognition and called on those countries that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to take the step and protect the two-state solution.
Advertisement - 22 Sep 2025 - 22:25(22:25 GMT)
Israeli army raids Arroub camp in occupied West Bank
Fighting has broken out in the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, after an Israeli raid.
The camp is located between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, where an Israeli military watchtower stands immediately outside the camp.
Arroub is one of the most frequently targeted camps in the occupied West Bank, with residents regularly subjected to Israeli arrests, tear gas, sound bombs and live ammunition, according to the UN.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:20(22:20 GMT)
Which countries have recognised Palestine so far today?
So far, six countries have formally recognised Palestinian statehood at the summit happening now in New York City. They are:
- France
- Andorra
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:15(22:15 GMT)
Belgium recognises state of Palestine
Belgium has joined a group of countries moving to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN session.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that while Belgium was giving out a strong political signal, diplomatic relations with the new Palestinian state would only be established after the full demilitarisation of Hamas, as well as democratic presidential and parliamentary elections.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 22:10(22:10 GMT)
What’s happening in Gaza as world leaders meet at UN?
As world leaders are holding a meeting at the UN to discuss a possible two-state solution, Israeli attacks continue to pound the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army has deployed another battalion to Gaza City and is continuing a ground assault to seize the Strip’s largest urban centre.
At least seven people have been killed, and many are wounded, in the central Samer area. Two others were killed in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, and one in a drone strike in the al-Sahaba area.
Israel has issued evacuation threats, telling people to move to the south.
An attack to the west of Gaza City has left several Palestinians wounded as they were preparing their belongings for a forced evacuation from the Shati refugee camp.
[Mohammed Saber/EPA] - 22 Sep 2025 - 22:00(22:00 GMT)
Recognition of Palestinian statehood disconnected from reality on the ground
Ines Abdel Razek, the executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, says the recognition of Palestinian statehood by Western countries was “long overdue” and comes at a time when it is increasingly disconnected from the reality on the ground.
Abdel Razek said the move will do little to “prevent Israel from destroying the very state that [governments have] recognised” unless they take meaningful measures to halt Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The analyst added that the recognition was likely greenlit by Western leaders to “self-aggrandise” and decrease public pressure within civil societies, rather than trigger meaningful changes on the ground.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 21:45(21:45 GMT)
Netanyahu weighing reaction to Palestinian statehood recognition
Former Israeli Ambassador Alon Liel says Netanyahu is likely “very disturbed” by the recent wave of recognition and is taking time to decide on a course of action.
One possibility would be to respond to each government that recognised Palestinian statehood individually through bilateral action. Liel said Netanyahu would “punish himself” if he opted for this solution because it would harm relations with a number of European nations.
A second option would be taking domestic action and annexing the West Bank.
“When it comes to the annexation, a lot of the bureaucrats and a lot of professionals in the security establishment think it’s a mistake,” Liel said. “Many of them understand that it is a big risk to the Abraham Accords, which is the main achievement diplomatically of Netanyahu and Trump.”
Liel argued that the agreements might be suspended if annexation were to go ahead.
The former diplomat said “Trump is a critical factor now” as Netanyahu is expected to meet the US president in the coming days to decide on a concerted solution.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 21:37(21:37 GMT)
Spain’s PM says no solution possible when Palestinians victim to genocide
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, says a two-state solution is not possible “when the population of one of those two states is the victim of a genocide”.
While he described recognising Palestinian statehood as a “crucial step forward”, he told the summit that ensuring the Palestinian people are able to remain within a Palestinian state is even more urgent than recognising statehood.
“The Palestinian people are being annihilated, [so] in the name of reason, in the name of international law and in the name of human dignity, we have to stop this slaughter,” said Sanchez, noting that “at this precise moment, bombs continue to fall indiscriminately on the civilian population in Gaza”.
He concluded his speech by calling for Palestine to become a “fully fledged member of the United Nations as soon as possible” and for countries to take “immediate… measures to halt the brutality and make peace”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a UN summit on Palestinians at UN headquarters in New York on Monday [AFP] - 22 Sep 2025 - 21:20(21:20 GMT)
Two-state solution a ‘security imperative’: Egypt
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly says the two-state solution is “not just a political choice or a moral obligation” but “a security imperative”.
“The only path to a secure and stable Middle East is to guarantee the Palestinian people a right to freedom, dignity and independence,” he said.
Madbouly stressed that Egypt rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians or “liquidate their cause”.
He added that Egypt would host an international reconstruction conference, as soon as a ceasefire was in place, to mobilise funds and “ensure Palestinian people will remain in their land”.
Advertisement - 22 Sep 2025 - 21:15(21:15 GMT)
Israel ‘must accept its share of responsibility’ for Gaza war: Australian PM
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the UN conference that Gaza is “in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe” and said Israel “must accept its share of responsibility”.
“Throughout this conflict, Australia has supported calls for a ceasefire because every innocent life matters. Every Israeli life. Every Palestinian life,” he said.
“Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. Desperate people, including children, denied vital aid. Aid workers killed. Journalists killed trying to bring the truth out.”
Albanese also condemned Israel’s “continued illegal expansion of settlements… and an increase in settler violence” in the occupied West Bank as well as “threats to annex parts of Palestine, and permanently displace the Palestinian people”.
“Such conduct risks putting a two-state solution beyond reach,” he said. “That is where the current road leads. We must choose a different path. We must break this cycle of violence and build something better.”
- 22 Sep 2025 - 21:10(21:10 GMT)
France presents new peace framework
As we reported earlier, France has recognised the state of Palestine.
In his speech at the UN, President Macron also outlined a framework that France is advancing in parallel.
This includes the creation of a “renewed Palestinian Authority” (PA), under which France would open an embassy, subject to factors such as reforms, a ceasefire and the release of all remaining captives held in Gaza.
An International Stabilisation Force (ISF) would assist in preparing the PA to take over governance in Gaza.
Macron also tied France’s cooperation with Israel on ending the war in Gaza, and said that he expected Arab countries to normalise ties with Israel after the creation of a Palestinian state.
- 22 Sep 2025 - 21:00(21:00 GMT)
WATCH: World reaction to Palestinian state recognition
Several Western nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, have formally recognised Palestine, drawing praise from Palestinians and outrage from the Israeli government, which insists it will never allow a Palestinian state.
Updates: Israel kills 37 in Gaza; France recognises Palestinian statehood
These were the updates on Israel’s war on Gaza and the summit in New York on the two-state solution, on Monday, September 22.
Published On 22 Sep 2025
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- At least 37 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave since dawn, including 30 in Gaza City.
- France and Saudi Arabia convened dozens of world leaders to rally support for a two-state solution at a summit ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York.
- France recognised the state of Palestine at the meeting, alongside Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco .
- The development comes a day after Canada, Australia and Portugal joined the United Kingdom in formally recognising Palestinian statehood.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,344 people and wounded 166,795 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.