The Media Line: Qatar, Jordan Condemn Israel at UN as Trump Rejects Palestinian Statehood Recognition  

Qatar, Jordan Condemn Israel at UN as Trump Rejects Palestinian Statehood Recognition  

By The Media Line Staff  

The UN General Assembly session in New York turned into a forum of sharp divisions with Arab leaders assailing Israel’s conduct in Gaza while the United States and Israel pushed back against international recognition of a Palestinian state.   

Qatar’s Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani charged that Israel had chosen war over releasing its remaining 48 hostages, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeing the Gaza conflict as “an opportunity to expand settlements.” Al-Thani denounced Israel’s September 9 strike on Hamas leaders in Doha as a violation of Qatari sovereignty and an act of “state terrorism,” alleging that Israel both negotiates and plots assassinations in the same capital. He further accused Israel of pursuing a policy to render Gaza unlivable and displace its population.   

Jordan’s King Abdullah devoted nearly his entire speech to a denunciation of Netanyahu’s government, warning that its talk of “Greater Israel” threatened the territorial integrity of neighboring states. Turkey’s president and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also joined in the criticism. In contrast, Indonesia’s president, representing the world’s largest Muslim nation, called for respecting Israel’s right to security and closed with the Hebrew blessing “Shalom.”   

US President Donald Trump, addressing the chamber a day earlier, rejected the wave of European and Western recognitions of Palestinian statehood. “This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire,” he said, calling such moves a capitulation to Hamas’s “ransom demands.” Trump urged unity behind the message “Release the hostages now,” winning applause from delegates.   

President Trump reiterated his opposition to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, describing Tehran as “the world’s number one sponsor of terror.” He said US bombers destroyed Iranian enrichment facilities during June’s brief Israel-Iran war and pledged that Iran would never obtain nuclear weapons.   

Netanyahu is expected to deliver his own address at the assembly on Friday, as hostage families continue to protest Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza City.