Pope Leo Calls for a Two-State Solution in Israel

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The pope, en route to Lebanon after visiting Turkey, said he had discussed with the Turkish president how the Vatican might help mediate in the conflict.

Shortly after takeoff from Istanbul after completing the first leg of his inaugural international trip, Pope Leo XIV said he had spoken with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey about serving as a “mediating voice” to help Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories negotiate a two-state solution.

“We all know that right now Israel does not accept this situation,” the pope said, speaking in Italian in response to a Turkish reporter’s question about the Vatican’s position on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Leo, noting that the Vatican is “also friends with Israel,” said a two-state solution was “the only solution” to “the conflict they continually live.” He added, “Turkey has an important role that it can play in this.”

The pope’s answer was in accordance with longstanding Vatican policy. The Vatican also has criticized Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza. In October, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, said Israel was conducting a “massacre” in Gaza as retribution for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Cardinal Parolin described those attacks as an “inhuman massacre.” After the Israeli government objected to Cardinal Parolin’s comments, Pope Leo said that the cardinal “expressed the Holy See’s opinion in this matter very well.”

Leo, who thanked President Erdogan for the use of his personal helicopter, said on the plane that the Turkish leader had spent many months talking with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to try to resolve the war in Ukraine. Leo said he hoped that, given President Erdogan’s relationships with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and the United States, which is trying to broker a cease-fire, the Turkish president could help “promote dialogue” that would lead to a cease-fire and ultimately an end to the war. » | Motoko Rich | Reporting from the papal plane en route from Istanbul to Beirut, Lebanon | Sunday, November 30, 2025

Democracy Now! Sarah Leah Whitson on Israel, Gaza & Trump-MBS Meeting

Nov 26, 2025 | Since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect, Israel has killed more than 342 civilians, including 67 children. To talk about all of this and Trump's controversial Oval Office meeting with Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman we are joined by Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, an organization working to reform U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. She is co-author of the new book, "From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine"

Ceasefire on the Brink: Israel Launches New Strikes on Gaza after Truce Violations.

Oct 29, 2025 | In a dramatic escalation, Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful strikes” in response to alleged Hamas ceasefire breaches. The attacks hit multiple neighborhoods, including near Al-Shifa Hospital, killing several civilians and reigniting fears of renewed full-scale war. This report breaks down the events leading to the strikes, the political pressure driving Netanyahu’s decision, and the fragile U.S.-brokered truce that now hangs in the balance.

‘We Need to Have the Right of Self-determination and Freedom’, Says Former Palestinian Activist

Oct 22, 2025 | We spoke to Hanan Ashrawi, former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

We asked her if the reason the US hadn't set a deadline for Hamas to disarm was because of the risk of both sides walking away from the peace deal. We also asked Hanan Ashrawi what she thought of Sir Tony Blair being in charge of Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

Sir Tony has said the plans were "the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment"

Israel maintains that it is adhering properly to the ceasefire terms and strenuously denies any accusation of ethnic cleansing in the Palestinian territories.

War Could Return to Gaza as Israel Sets Impossible Ceasefire Conditions: Analysis

Oct 16, 2025 | Hamas return the remains of two more Israeli captives but admits that it will need specialised equipment and assistance to locate bodies still buried beneath the rubble.

Israel says there will be no advance to next phase of Gaza peace plan until Hamas returns the remains of all 28 captives.

US President Donald Trump has acknowledged the challenges of finding the remaining bodies and has spoken about the difficulty of retrieving the bodies from destroyed areas in Gaza, calling it a “gruesome process”.

Middle East and Gulf politics analyst, Luciano Zaccara, warns Israel's ceasefire terms are impossible, risking renewed Gaza war as Trump faces a credibility test in Middle East.

Jennifer Welch on Trump in Israel Suggesting a Pardon for Netanyahu

Listen to Jennifer here.

What Israel Really Doesn’t Want You To Know - Holocaust Survivor Son Exposes All

October 14, 2025

Jennifer Welch Tells Us…

…about Neyanyahu’s nauseating behaviour vis-à-vis Trump.

Israel: Geiseln und Gefangene sind frei, doch der Weg zu einem Frieden ist lang

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Zwischen Israel und den Palästinensern gibt es erste Schritte aufeinander zu. Doch Trump und Netanjahu machen klar: Sie wollen das Heft in der Hand behalten.

Israel hat am Montag die Freilassung der 20 noch lebenden Geiseln aus der Gefangenschaft der Hamas gefeiert. In einer Rede vor der Knesset, dem israelischen Parlament, sagte US-Präsident Donald Trump zu Israel Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu und der israelischen Regierung: „Sie haben alles gewonnen, was mit Waffengewalt gewonnen werden kann. Jetzt ist es an der Zeit, diese Siege gegen Terroristen auf dem Schlachtfeld in den ultimativen Preis von Frieden und Wohlstand für den gesamten Nahen Osten umzuwandeln.“

Trump würdigte Netanjahu im Besonderen: „Ich möchte einem Mann von außergewöhnlichem Mut und Patriotismus meinen Dank aussprechen, dessen Partnerschaft so viel dazu beigetragen hat, diesen bedeutsamen Tag möglich zu machen. Sie wissen, von wem ich spreche, es gibt nur einen: Premierminister Benjamin Netanjahu. Bibi, bitte stehen Sie auf.“ Netanjahu sei „nicht der einfachste Mensch im Umgang, aber genau das macht ihn großartig“, so Trump. Trump forderte Israels Präsidenten Isaac Herzog auf, Netanjahu zu begnadigen. Netanjahu steht derzeit wegen Korruption vor Gericht und ist wegen Betrugs und Vertrauensbruchs im Zusammenhang mit einem Skandal um die Annahme von Luxusgeschenken angeklagt. „Ich habe eine Idee: Warum begnadigen Sie Netanjahu nicht?“, sagt Trump während einer Rede in der Knesset an Herzog gerichtet. » | Michael Maier | Montag, 13. Oktober 2025

Trump Made My ‘Blood Boil’ in Most Shameful Moment in US History | Sir Bill Browder

Oct 10, 2025 | Sir Bill Browder joins Times Radio’s Maddie Hale to react to Vladimir Putin’s comments about Donald Trump brokering a peace deal between Israel & Hamas, Russia’s stock market fell to its lowest level in three years and why the US President has an important card he can still play to end Putin’s war.

Nach Waffenruhe in Gaza: Israel intensiviert Angriffe im Libanon

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Während im Gazastreifen die Waffen schweigen, hat Israels Armee erneut Ziele im Südlibanon angegriffen. Beirut spricht von einem Bruch der Waffenruhe.

Während im Gazastreifen seit Freitag eine Waffenruhe gilt, hat Israels Armee in der Nacht zum Samstag erneut Ziele im Südlibanon angegriffen. Nach Angaben des libanesischen Gesundheitsministeriums wurde dabei ein Mensch getötet und sieben weitere verletzt. Der Angriff ereignete sich demnach im Gebiet von Al-Msayleh nahe der südlibanesischen Stadt Sidon.

Libanons Präsident Joseph Aoun sprach von einem „abscheulichen israelischen Angriff auf zivile Einrichtungen - ohne Rechtfertigung oder Vorwand“. Der Angriff wiege besonders schwer, erklärte Aoun, weil er „unmittelbar nach der Einigung auf das Waffenstillstandsabkommen für den Gazastreifen“ erfolgt sei. Auf der Plattform X forderte der Präsident, auch dem Libanon müsse nun eine Waffenruhe „nach dem Vorbild Gazas“ zugestanden werden. » | Alexander Schmalz | Samstag, 11. Oktober 2025

Israel, Charlie Kirk, and the Weaponization of Murder (w/ Max Blumenthal) | The Chris Hedges Report

September 15, 2025

Click here for Chris Hedges on Substack.

Israel Has Committed Genocide in Gaza, Says UN Commission of Inquiry | BBC News

Sep 16, 2025 | A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

A new report says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.

Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

An Israeli spokesperson accused the three experts on the UN commission of serving as "Hamas proxies" and relying "entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others" that had "already been thoroughly debunked".

Israel's Strike on Doha: A Turning Point for the Alliance between Gulf States and the US? | DW News

Sep 14, 2025 | Arab and Muslim leaders are meeting in Doha on Sunday and Monday to discuss the implications of Israel’s strike on the Qatari capital. Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani hopes to rally support from Doha's allies over Israel’s breach of the nation's sovereignty. The White House said it had not received prior notice from Israel of its planned attack on Hamas leaders, and that US President Donald Trump was upset by the Israeli move.

Attack on Qatar: Israel’s Ever-expanding War | The Listening Post

Sep 13, 2025 | Israel’s rampage through the Middle East continues, with an attack on United States ally, Qatar. As Arab nations evaluate the value of a US security guarantee, we examine the fallout in the region and beyond.

Funeral Held in Doha after Deadly Israeli Attack

Click here.

EU-Kommission stoppt Zahlungen an Israel – von der Leyen kritisiert Israel scharf

Sep 10, 2025 | Wegen Israels Vorgehen im Gazastreifen setzt die EU-Kommission ihre Unterstützung für das Land aus. Man werde alle entsprechenden Zahlungen stoppen, sagte Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen im Europaparlament in Straßburg. Zudem kündigte die Kommissionspräsidentin an, den EU-Staaten Vorschläge für Sanktionen gegen extremistische Minister und gegen gewalttätige Siedler zu unterbreiten.

Historian Avi Shlaim on Israel’s Long War on Palestine | The InnerView

Sep 8, 2025 | Avi Shlaim tells Imran Garda that Zionism has transformed into a relentless killing machine. He describes the violence Israel has unleashed in Gaza as unlimited, unrestrained, and indiscriminate.

How did things come to this? Shlaim, an Iraqi-born British-Israeli historian and Oxford professor, dives deep into this question in his latest book, Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine. He argues that Israel’s policy toward Palestinians has gone beyond land grabs and forced displacement, calling it outright genocide.

In this episode of The InnerView, Shlaim reflects on the moment that compelled him to write the book. He also discusses why he believes the two-state solution is no longer possible, and how he thinks people will remember the ongoing conflict a century from now.

Explosionen in Doha: Israel meldet Angriff auf ranghohe Hamas-Vertreter in Katar

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Die israelischen Streitkräfte und der Inlandsgeheimdienst „haben einen präzisen Schlag gegen die Führungsspitze der Terrororganisation Hamas ausgeführt“, hieß es am Dienstag.

Nach Explosionen in Doha hat Israel einen Angriff auf ranghohe Vertreter der radikal-islamischen Hamas gemeldet. Die israelischen Streitkräfte und der Inlandsgeheimdienst „haben einen präzisen Schlag gegen die Führungsspitze der Terrororganisation Hamas ausgeführt“, erklärte die israelische Armee am Dienstag, ohne nähere Informationen über den Ort des Angriffs zu melden. Die politische Vertretung der Hamas befindet sich in der katarischen Hauptstadt Doha.

Der katarische Sender Al-Dschasira berichtete unter Berufung auf einen hochrangigen Hamas-Vertreter, dass es sich bei den getroffenen Hamas-Mitgliedern um Angehörige der „Hamas-Verhandlungsdelegation während ihres Treffens in Doha“ gehandelt habe. » | Sophie Barkey | Dienstag, 9. September 2025

Spain's PM Sanchez Announces Sanctions to Pressure Israel to End War in Gaza | DW News

Sep 8, 2025 | Spain's prime minister has accused Israel of "exterminating" defenseless people in Gaza. Pedro Sanchez has announced a series of measures aimed at pressuring Israel to end the war in Gaza. These include a new law formalizing an arms embargo on Israel and a ban on the transport of fuel and weapons for use by the Israeli army through Spanish ports and airspace.

Related article here, plus my comment.