France recognises Palestinian statehood at UN meeting to revive peace efforts
United Nations (AP): As the Gaza war rages on, France recognized Palestinian statehood on Monday at the start of a high-profile meeting at the United Nations aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Mideast conflict. More nations are expected to follow, in defiance of Israel and the United States.
French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement in the UN General Assembly hall received loud applause from the more than 140 leaders in attendance. The Palestinian delegation, including its UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, could be seen standing and applauding as the declaration was made. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was seen applauding on a live-camera view after the US government banned him from attending the UN gathering in person.
“True to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, this is why I declare that today, France recognizes the state of Palestine,” Macron said.
The meeting and expanded recognition of Palestinian statehood are expected to have little if any actual impact on the ground, where Israel is waging another major offensive in the Gaza Strip and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Macron announced recognition of the state of Palestine at the start of the meeting, at which several world leaders were expected to speak. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to address the meeting by video after he and dozens of other senior Palestinian officials were denied US visas to attend the conference.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said “statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward." That appeared to push back against the Israeli government, which says recognizing statehood rewards Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack that set off the war in Gaza two years ago.
The UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal recognized the state of Palestine on Sunday, and the Palestinians expect a total of 10 countries to do so in the coming days. Around three-fourths of the 193-member United Nations recognizes Palestine, but major Western nations had until recently declined to, saying one could only come about through negotiations with Israel.
Palestinians have welcomed the moves toward recognition, hoping they might someday lead to independence. “This is a beginning, or a glimmer of hope, for the Palestinian people,” Fawzi Nour al-Deen said Sunday as he held a bag on his head, joining thousands of people fleeing south from Gaza City. “We are a people who deserve to have a state.”
International community widely backs a Palestinian state
The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict, which began more than a century before Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu government opposed Palestinian statehood even before the war and now says such a move would reward Hamas, the militant group that still controls parts of Gaza. He has hinted Israel might take unilateral steps in response, including annexing parts of the West Bank, which would put a viable Palestinian state even further out of reach.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric brushed off such threats, saying efforts to bring about a two-state solution should continue regardless of Israel's actions. “I think we have to be determined in achieving the goal that we want to achieve, and we cannot be distracted by threats and intimidation,” he said.
Netanyahu is under pressure from his far-right coalition to move ahead with annexation, but the UAE — the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords, in which the UAE and three other Arab states forged ties with Israel — has called it a "red line," without saying how it could affect the two countries' now close ties.
Netanyahu said he would decide on Israel's response to the Palestinian statehood push after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House next week, their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office. The Israeli leader is set to address world leaders at the UN on Friday.
The Trump administration is also opposed to growing recognition of a Palestinian state and blames it for the derailment of ceasefire talks with Hamas. Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, walked away from the talks in July, and earlier this month an Israeli strike targeted Hamas negotiators in Qatar, a key mediator.
The Palestinians are politically fragmented
Abbas' internationally recognized Palestinian Authority is led by rivals of Hamas and administers parts of the West Bank. It recognizes Israel, cooperates with it on security matters, and is committed to a two-state solution. France and Saudi Arabia have advanced a phased plan in which a reformed Palestinian Authority would eventually govern the West Bank and Gaza with international assistance. It was overwhelmingly supported by the General Assembly on September 12 by a vote of 142-10. Twelve members abstained.
Israel says the Palestinian Authority is not fully committed to peace and accuses it of incitement to militancy. Many Palestinians view the leadership in the West Bank as corrupt and increasingly autocratic.
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Syndicate extorting money from Rajasthan bus conductors for decades dismantled, 8 held
Kota(Rajasthan) (PTI): Police busted a syndicate that allegedly extorted money from Rajasthan Roadways bus conductors by forcing them to charge passengers without issuing tickets, even as they offered the conductors protection from vigilance checks, officials said.
Jhalawar Police carried out simultaneous raids across 12 districts and arrested eight people, including the gang leader, Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor in Jhalawar.
With this, the decades-long operations of the gang, which has caused substantial loss to the state transport corporation, has been dismantled, they said.
As part of 'Operation Clean Ride', police also captured the exchange of money on video in a sting operation, a senior officer said on Saturday.
Since the gang would pass on messages regarding vigilance teams to the bus conductors through STD phone booths in the early days of its operation, it came be known as the 'STD Gang'.
The gang threatened roadways staff with false complaints of corruption for not issuing tickets to passengers and job termination if the payments were not made.
The gang allegedly facilitated "large-scale ticketless travel" and shared "confidential vigilance information", resulting in heavy revenue loss to the state, police said.
Police claimed the gang's activities caused revenue losses of up to 40 per cent at certain locations.
Speaking in detail on the matter on Saturday, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said following a confidential complaint received on December 24, 2025, police began a discreet investigation.
Technical evidence, call detail records and UPI transaction details were collected by the probe team. A sting operation was conducted that recorded members of the accepting illegal payments from conductors at different bus stands.
Based on the findings, a coordinated raid plan was executed, and all arrests were made simultaneously so that they would have no time to flee or destroy evidence.
Police arrested eight accused, including gang leader Narendra Singh Rajawat. Rs 11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones, a spy camera pen, roadways identity cards, STD diaries, bus security slips, passbooks, cheque books and several other documents were seized from them.
Additional detentions were made with the help of local police in Ajmer, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Banswara, Kota and Agar in Madhya Pradesh for further investigation, the SP said.
Police said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per conductor per trip and Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.
Conductors who refused to pay were allegedly targeted through vigilance complaints and harassment, the officer said.
The probe also revealed that multiple criminal cases had earlier been registered against members of the gang in different police stations for offences including obstruction of public servants, assault, criminal intimidation and violations under the IPC and SC/ST Act. Several of these cases are currently pending trial in court.
The SP said police are coordinating with Rajasthan Roadways management for further investigation and to set up preventive measures for the future.
'Operation Clean Ride' involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the syndicate and assess the total revenue loss caused, police said.
