Yesterday, all 15 member nations of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York, to discuss rising tensions in the Middle East. The dialogue quickly turned into campaigns for (and against) Palestinian statehood recognition. Here we analyze ensuing claims by Israeli and Palestine representatives in the course of dialogue.

Israel: Granting Palestine statehood is akin to rewarding Hamas a handsome prize for its October 7th, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

Verdict: TRUE! Hamas—not PLO as suit-and-tie Palestinians would like you to think—runs Palestine. Terrorists are on monthly payroll and 90% of Palestinians support Hamas terror activities.

Palestine: Since 1988, PLO has tried to make peace, concessions, and adhere to the two state solution.

Verdict: FALSE! In 2000, PLO leader Yasser Arafat cunningly rejected the Clinton Proposal, off a Camp David agreement that granted every single Palestine two-state solution demands today. Israel’s Ehud Barak had accepted it while Arafat wanted an additional “right of return” for Palestinians to evict Israel off their homes beyond the territory already allotted to them.

In 2008 and more recently in 2019, Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat’s successor, also rejected two other peace and concession plans including the “deal of the century”, offered by ex-Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert and former US President, Donald Trump respectively. Truly, Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Israel:  UN has never designated Hamas or Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Verdict: TRUE! While individual member states may have lent their condemnation to the October 7th attacks, the council is yet to make a formal and binding declaration over Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. Ironically, over 40% of its council members including the US, UK and Japan, officially designated Hamas as a terrorist group.

Russia’s call on Israel to cease fire against Hamas is unjust and hypocritical

OPINION: NO END IN SIGHT TO CHRISTIAN MASSACRE IN NIGERIA.

Palestine:The Palestinian people are victims of history.

Verdict: FALSE! A recent study shows that over 90% of all Israeli strikes in Gaza over the last two decades are retaliatory in nature. This means that Hamas, Hezbollah or its terror proxies are more often than not the attackers, bullies and oppressors who cry victim when retaliation arrives.

In its speech, Palestine made no mention of the Oct 7th Hamas massacre or the current state of hostages captured by the terror group. It also made no mention of the 300 Iran missile attack which was on course to claim thousands of Israeli lives save for a joint military coordination effort.

It is imperative that these misleading disinformation and false narratives so widely perpetrated about the conflict in the Middle East must be swiftly debunked in the interest of permanently eliminating terrorism and achieving a lasting peace in the region.