After France joined Western allies such as Britain and Canada yesterday in recognising a Palestinian state, our Global Security Reporter Yvonne Murray runs through the key take aways from Day One of the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday.
This was a long-awaited moment.
President Emmanuel Macron of France opened the UN conference on the two-state solution and within minutes had delivered his historic announcement.
"I declare that today, France recognises the state of Palestine," he told delegates.
Applause broke out in the General Assembly Hall with members of the Palestinian mission to the UN giving the French president a standing ovation.
Several other UN member states including Australia, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, Luxembourg, and Malta followed suit.
A few rows away, the seats of the United States and Israel sat empty, with both countries boycotting the event and calling it a "reward for terror".
The French president said that France would never forget the victims of the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October and called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages.
"We know that [Israel] cannot show weakness in the face of terrorism, but we also know the perils of endless wars," he said.
He said Israel was further extending its military operation in Gaza, with the stated objective of destroying Hamas but there were hundreds of thousands of people displaced, injured, famished, traumatised with their lives still being destroyed.
"Today, here, 142 states are proposing this peace," Mr Macron told the conference.
"They're extending out their hands ready to be shaken," he said, "so yes, the time has come to put an end to the war in Gaza…right now".
"Urgency is what drives us," he said.
He said that France would open an embassy subject to reform of the Palestinian Authority, a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages.
Next up, the UN chief Antonio Guterres started his speech expressing "disappointment" that members of the Palestinian Authority, including President Mahmoud Abbas, had been denied visas to enter the United Nations. The US State Department cited "national security" reasons.
He asked delegates what the alternative to a two-state solution was.
"A one-state scenario where Palestinians are denied basic rights, expelled from their homes and their land, forced to live under perpetual occupation, discrimination and subjugation?"
"How is this possible in the 21st Century? How is it acceptable? This is neither peace nor justice," he said.
"It will only increase the growing isolation of Israel on the global stage and let's be clear, statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward," he said, "and denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere".
The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the conference by video, commending the hosts Saudi Arabia and France for convening the event.
"We call for your support so that Palestine becomes a full-fledged member of the United Nations," he said.
In his address, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: "The only way to end the appalling cycle of violence is to forge a political path, and the only credible destination is a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security."
Israel warned there would be consequences.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the conference, which Israel and the US did not attend, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said the consequences would be decided later.
"We will fly to Washington to meet President Trump, and we will come back to Israel after our holiday, the Jewish New Year, we will discuss what the action will be," he said.
Members of the Israeli government have been calling for cabinet discussions on full annexation of the West Bank.
UN Security Council meeting held over Ukraine tensions
Earlier, the UN Security Council met in an emergency session requested by Estonia, following the incursion of Russian fighter jets into their airspace last week.
Tensions have been rising in recent weeks on NATO's eastern border, after Russian drones flew through Romanian and Polish airspace, raising fears of the Ukraine conflict spilling over.
Russia denied violating Estonia’s airspace, claiming the jets were flying over international waters in the Baltic Sea to an airbase in northwest Russia.
Today, European foreign ministers stood shoulder to shoulder ahead of the Security Council meeting in a show of strength and solidarity.
Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna read a statement on behalf of 50 member states, including Ireland, calling the incursion an "outrageous violation" of Estonia’s territorial integrity.
"It is part of the wider pattern of Russian provocations against its neighbours, while a permanent member of the Security Council continues to full scale invasion of Ukraine," he said.
"Russia's reckless actions represent not only a breach of international law, but also the stabilising escalation that brings the entire region closer to conflict that at any time in recent years".
Following the incursion last week, which Estonia said lasted 12 minutes, Estonia invoked Article 4 of NATO, which triggers consultations among members.
Addressing the emergency session, the UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper called Russia’s actions "reckless" and "dangerous".
"They risk miscalculation," she said, "they open the door to direct armed confrontation between NATO and Russia".
"NATO's combined strength is unparalleled, and its determination to defend peace and security in Europe is unshakable," she added.
In a message to President Putin of Russia she said: "be under no illusion, we stand ready to take all steps necessary to defend NATO skies and NATO's territory".
Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he had a "simple message for Russia".
"If we shoot down your next missile or plane that violates our airspace, don’t come here whining," adding, "you have been warned".
The Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Dimitry Polyanskiy, called European leaders paranoid and "small time blinkered Russophobes".
Mike Waltz, the former US National Security advisor and new US Ambassador to the United Nations, making his UN debut, told the meeting that the United States "stands by our NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations," adding, "and I want to take this first opportunity to repeat, and to emphasise, the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of NATO territory".
Asked ahead of the meeting about the perception among some UN member states of European double standards - for acting quickly to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine but not on Israel over Gaza, Mr Tsahkna said Europe was "not guilty of double standards" and has been very clear about "international law and international principles" under the United Nations Charter.
This morning, the Tánaiste announced an additional €35m for humanitarian programmes in Ukraine.
Human rights and famine
At a side event yesterday, Ireland launched its official bid for membership of the UN’s Human Rights Council for the two-year term beginning in 2027.
Speaking at the launch, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said, "we are facing efforts to undermine multilateralism and the UN system that we all value".
He said an "anti-rights agenda" was on the rise.
"In too many parts of the world - Yemen, Sudan and Gaza - we are seeing famine conditions that should shame us all".
He said with Ireland’s own history of the Great Hunger, famine was a scourge that "we cannot ignore".
In remarks supporting Ireland’s bid for the Human Rights Council, former president Mary Robinson said the "deliberate famine and unfolding genocide" in Gaza was "happening on all our watch".
"It is a stain on our conscience," she said.
The Tánaiste and Minister Neale Richmond announced additional funding of €3m in aid to Sudan, bringing Ireland’s total to €14.3 for the war-stricken country in 2025.
Asked what difference Ireland’s contribution could make to a situation the UN has deemed the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, Minister Richmond said "Ireland’s money will save lives".
"No one else is stepping up to the plate, so Ireland needs to step up the plate," he said.
"We have a responsibility here, we have the ability to do it, but we also want to call on other likeminded countries within the European Union, in particular, to make sure they look at their development contributions, both at a member state level, but also leading into the next round of EU budgeting negotiations," he added.
