UN Security Council approves international force for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council voted Monday in favour of a US-drafted peace plan for Gaza, that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state. It marks a significant step for the fragile ceasefire after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas.


Issued on: 18/11/2025 - RFI

Displaced Palestinians sit next to the remains of their destroyed homes in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, 12 October 2025. AP - Abdel Kareem Hana

There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which US President Donald Trump claimed would lead to "further Peace all over the World," with only Russia and China abstaining – but no vetoes.

US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said after the vote that "today's resolution represents another significant step that will enable Gaza to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security."

But Hamas, which is excluded by the resolution from any governance role in Gaza, said the resolution did not meet Palestinians' "political and humanitarian demands and rights."

The text, which was revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, "endorses" the US president's plan, which allowed for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to take hold on 10 October in the war-wracked Palestinian territory.

'Post-apocalyptic wasteland': aid worker describes enduring horror in Gaza

The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023.

The peace plan authorises the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.

The ISF is mandated to work on the "permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups," protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.

It also authorizes the formation of a "Board of Peace," a transitional governing body for Gaza – which Trump would theoretically chair – with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

Tents fill a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Zawaida, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday, 1 November 2025. AP - Abdel Kareem Hana

Future Palestinian state

In convoluted language, the resolution does mention a possible future Palestinian state.

Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, "the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood," the text says.

That eventuality has been firmly rejected by Israel.

The resolution also calls for the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries at scale through the UN, ICRC and Red Crescent.

"We must also substantially step up our work to support the UN humanitarian effort. That requires opening all crossings and ensuring that aid agencies and international NGOs can operate without obstruction," said a British ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki.

Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said ahead of the vote that the resolution would "make sure that Hamas will not pose a threat against Israel anymore."

Turkey ready to help rebuild Gaza, but tensions with Israel could be a barrier

Veto-wielding Russia circulated a competing draft, saying the US document does not go far enough towards backing the creation of a Palestinian state.

Moscow's text, seen by French news agency AFP, asked the Council to express its "unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution."

It would not have authorised a Board of Peace or the deployment of an international force for the time being, instead asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to offer "options" on those issues.

"Security Council members were, in practice, not given the time to do the work in good faith," Moscow's ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The US document is yet another pig in a poke. In essence, the Council is giving its blessing to a US initiative on the basis of Washington's promises, giving complete control over the Gaza strip to the Board of Peace."

The US won the backing of several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, publishing a joint statement of support for the text signed by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey.

(with AFP)

Netanyahu condemns settler violence by 'extremists' after West Bank village torched


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a “handful of extremists” after violent settler attacks erupted in a West Bank village on Monday, following the demolition of an illegal outpost. Homes and cars were torched as tensions soar amid a sharp rise in settler violence since the Gaza war began.


Issued on: 17/11/2025
By:FRANCE 24

Palestinians and journalists survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm on November 12, 2025. © Majdi Mohammed, AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the violence of a "handful of extremists" among Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, following clashes and attacks on Monday.

"I view with great severity the violent riots and the attempt by a handful of extremists to take the law into their own hands," Netanyahu said, calling the perpetrators "a group that does not represent" Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territory.

Homes and vehicles were torched and vandalised in a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Monday evening after demonstrators earlier clashed with security forces dismantling an illegal settler outpost in the same area.

A large force was deployed to the Tzur Misgavi outpost in the Gush Etzion area, south of Bethlehem, footage broadcast by Israeli media showed.

One clip showed a bulldozer knocking into the side of a building with people standing on top.

Israeli media said 25 families were evacuated from the site.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

In recent weeks, attacks attributed to Israeli settlers, notably those living in outposts, have multiplied in the West Bank, targeting Palestinians and sometimes Israeli soldiers.

Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said last week that he wanted to put a stop to such attacks.

The United Nations said October had been the worst month for West Bank settler violence since it began recording incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

"The evacuation is being carried out in accordance with the law," said COGAT, the Israeli body that runs civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

"Criminal activity and severe incidents of violence at the site affected the security of the area," it said in a statement.

The authorities and security forces will continue to "uphold law and order" in the West Bank, "with a particular focus on enforcing action against structures built illegally".
'Difficult day'

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and more than 500,000 Israelis now live there in settlements, alongside some three million Palestinians.

While all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are illegal under international law, outposts are also prohibited under Israeli law. However, many end up being legalised by the Israeli authorities.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – a proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself – oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

Smotrich said he ordered the demolition of Tzur Misgavi because the outpost was built on land already designated for a construction project.

"No-one is going to teach us how to build settlements," he said in a statement.

In a video message to residents, Yaron Rosenthal, the head of the Gush Etzion regional council, said he had been asking the settlers since January to stop building the outpost, as a road is planned to pass through that area.

"This is a difficult day, but if we don't stop the illegal construction today, we will pay a heavy price tomorrow for the future of the settlements," he said.

At least 1,006 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the Gaza war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

How a fish knows when to blend in

Scientists trace dynamic color-change circuit in zebrafish larvae

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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When swimming across bright surroundings, zebrafish get pale over tens of minutes. Researchers now identified which cells in the eye and brain control this background adaption.

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Credit: MPI for Biological Intelligence/ Krasimir Slanchev

The ability of some animals to dynamically change color to match the brightness of their surroundings is one of nature's great survival tools, allowing flatfish to blend into sandy seabeds, frogs to adjust to the bottom of ponds, and chameleons to adapt to the tone of the foliage they sit in – abilities known as background adaptation. Researchers in the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence's Genes – Circuits – Behavior department have now pinpointed the cells and connections underlying this response in zebrafish larvae, tracing the process from light detection in the eye to color changes in the skin.

When swimming across bright surroundings, these tiny fish get pale over tens of minutes, helping them avoid unwanted attention from predators. Previous work had discovered that this color change in the zebrafish involved cells in the retina that detect ambient light and hormones driven by the fish’s brain that lighten or darken the skin, but the specific types of cells and all the intermediate steps leading to hormone secretion had not been worked out. A new study, published in Current Biology, has provided important new insights into these puzzles.

Tracing the pathway

In zebrafish larvae, color change happens in specialized skin cells called melanophores, where melanin particles – the same pigment found in our skin and hair – either clump together to make the fish paler, or spread out to darken it. The new study identified the kinds of cells that detect the light in the retina and control the hormone shifts in the brain, driving these changes when the zebrafish swim over bright backgrounds.

"Retinal ganglion cells in the eye detect light and transmit this signal in the form of neuronal activity to neurons in the brain's hypothalamus. These, in turn, produce a hormone and secrete it into the bloodstream, causing the fish to lighten. At the same time, again acting on retinal ganglion cells, light suppresses a different hormone in a different population of neurons that darkens the skin," says Krasimir Slanchev, a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence and the paper's first author. He adds: “ The system works like a dimmer switch with two controls working in opposite directions.”

From detection to camouflage

Retinal cells initiating the color change sense the intensity of ambient light directly through a photosensitive protein called melanopsin, rather than relying on the eye's conventional photoreceptors. They control one of two melanin-concentrating hormones in fish – one regulates camouflage, while the other controls hunger and energy balance. Mammals lost the color-change hormone but kept its counterpart, and understanding this pathway can help scientists explore fundamental principles about how brains in vertebrates translate visual information into hormonal signals.

The team used genetic engineering and fluorescent labeling to visualize connections, eliminate specific cells, and trace individual neurons from the eye through the brain. Zebrafish larvae proved ideal for this research: many aspects of their brain structure resemble those found in humans, their genome can be modified to test gene function, and their transparency allows detailed examination under a microscope in living animals.

"Color change is critical for how some animals evade predators, find mates, hunt, and navigate their lives," says Herwig Baier, Director of the Genes – Circuits – Behavior department at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence. "Yet which cells control this and how they are wired still holds fascinating puzzles. This work opens broader questions about how sensory information transforms into hormonal signals and how this ancient vertebrate response was lost when mammals evolved – giving us a window into a survival mechanism our ancestors left behind. These comparative insights could illuminate fundamental principles of how brains translate what we sense into what we do."

 

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Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2025.10.025 

Article Title

Molecular delineation of a retina-dependent photoneuroendocrine pathway in zebrafish

 

The leading causes of mass mortality events in sea urchins are pathogens, storms, and extreme temperatures

Tel-Aviv University

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Left to right: Mai Bonomo & Dr. Omri Bronstein holding sea urchin and sample tube.

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Credit: Tel Aviv University

Meta-Analysis of All Scientific Literature in the Field Finds:

The Leading Causes of Mass Mortality Events in Sea Urchins are Pathogens, Storms, and Extreme Temperatures

• Underwater “COVID” Test: In an additional study, the research team developed a new, inexpensive, and non-invasive method for underwater genetic sampling using a swab - similar to a COVID-19 test.

Two pioneering studies by researchers from the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University, led by Dr. Omri Bronstein, have identified the primary drivers of sea urchin mass mortality events over recent decades: pathogens, storms, and extreme temperatures. In addition, Dr. Bronstein and his team have developed an innovative method for genetic sampling in marine environments - using a swab similar to a COVID-19 test,  to enable rapid and non-invasive monitoring of marine animals and underwater disease outbreaks.

The first study, published in the journal Biological Reviews, presents a meta-analysis of all 110 scientifically documented mass mortality events (MMEs) among sea urchins recorded between 1888 and 2024. Dr. Bronstein and PhD student Lisa Schmidt conducted a comprehensive review of the history of these events, showing that most reported MMEs originate in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, where the majority of research and funding are concentrated. The Tel Aviv University researchers classified five main causes of these events and found that 33% were caused by pathogens, 25% by catastrophic events such as storms and oxygen depletion, 24% by extreme temperatures, 11% by algal blooms, and 7% by human activity, such as pollution and habitat destruction.

“This is a meta-analysis of all scientific literature on the subject,” says Dr. Bronstein. “For each mass mortality event, we mapped where and when it occurred, which species were affected, and most importantly — what the causes were. After filtering out hundreds of publications who lacked sufficient credible data to be included in our analyses, ee found that pathogens are the leading cause of mass mortalities among sea urchins. This finding aligns closely with what we are seeing today in the modern wave of die-offs — from the Caribbean to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. There is a tendency to attribute everything to global warming, but that is not always accurate. In many cases, mortality is not directly related to heat, as some affected sea urchin species naturally live in even warmer environments. These temperatures may not be optimal, but they are not lethal for these species. The problem is that warming influences many other environmental factors, which can combine into a deadly mix. For example, warmer waters tend to have lower dissolved oxygen and higher pathogen activity.”

In 2023, Dr. Bronstein identified a mass mortality event of long-spined sea urchins (Diadema setosum) along the Red Sea coast. He subsequently found that the same pathogen,  a ciliate parasite, responsible for wiping out a related Caribbean species was also to blame. Since that discovery, the outbreak has spread to the Indian Ocean, reappeared in the Caribbean, and is now considered a global pandemic threatening sea urchin populations worldwide.

“Sea urchins are vital to coral reef health,” explains Dr. Bronstein. “They are the ‘gardeners’ of the reef: they feed on algae and prevent it from overgrowing and suffocating the corals competing for sunlight. In 1983, the most dominant Caribbean Sea urchin species, Diadema antillarum, died in vast numbers from an unknown reason at the time; algae proliferated uncontrollably, shaded the corals, and the entire ecosystem shifted from coral reefs to algal fields. Even 40 years later, the sea urchin population — and the reefs — have not recovered. We fear that the same process may now occur in other parts of the world where mass die-offs are happening, mainly among the long-spined sea urchin, a relative of the Caribbean species — the black urchin with long spines familiar to everyone. Until recently, it was one of the most common reef urchins in Eilat; today it has almost disappeared from large parts of the Red Sea. This is a very violent event: within less than 48 hours, a healthy population turns into disintegrating skeletons. In some sites in Eilat and Sinai, mortality reached 100%. Later, mass deaths were recorded on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, and we are now investigating three additional mass mortality events in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, and even the Mediterranean Seas. What began as a local mortality event has become regional and then global, posing a threat to coral reefs everywhere.”

To address one of the major challenges in marine genetic sampling, graduate student Mai Bonomo and Dr. Bronstein published a separate study in Molecular Ecology Resources, developing a new, inexpensive, and non-invasive method for collecting underwater genetic samples at scale.

“The main tools used today to identify both animals and pathogens are genetic,” says Dr. Bronstein. “But molecular ecology faces a fundamental problem: there’s no simple way to sample DNA from live marine animals underwater. As a result, many studies rely on invasive methods that harm the animal or even require sacrificing it completely to bring it into the lab. Therefore, research in this field is heavily regulated, weighing each case’s scientific value against environmental ethics. For example, sampling is prohibited in marine nature reserves, there are restrictions and bans on shipping samples abroad, including corals and every scientific publication must present the official permits for each sample it reports. Our need to overcome this bottleneck arose from the sea urchin pandemic. Today, there are only two ways to detect diseased urchins: visually, which is too late, as the animals are already dying, or through genetic tools that can detect disease before symptoms appear. But if detecting disease requires removing the animal from the sea, it makes no difference whether it’s sick or not, we end up sacrificing it.”

To overcome this challenge, Tel Aviv University researchers developed a specialized underwater genetic sampling kit that is durable, reliable, inexpensive, and easy to use and it is already being adopted by research groups worldwide, especially in remote or sensitive areas.

“We developed a new tool for underwater DNA sampling that resembles a COVID-19 test,” explains Dr. Bronstein. “At the end of a special tube filled with a preservation liquid is a membrane preventing water penetration, sealed with a clip-cap — much like some toothpaste tubes. Just like a COVID test, the researcher gently swabs the surface of the marine animal, without harming or moving it. There’s no need to collect mucus as in humans — just a light swipe is enough. The swab is then inserted into the tube, piercing the membrane that protects the preservation liquid inside, and the cap is locked to secure the sample. That’s it. A single researcher can collect dozens of samples in one dive, under almost any environmental or depth conditions.

 

The kit has already been tested in challenging environments, including field expeditions to Djibouti and Réunion Island, and the results are very promising: samples remained exceptionally well-preserved for months without refrigeration before arriving at our lab, and still allowed for sensitive genetic analyses. In a large-scale trial we conducted in the Gulf of Eilat, we collected genetic material from hundreds of echinoderms, the group that includes sea urchins and starfish, within just a few months and performed the most extensive genetic analysis ever conducted on these species in the region. This led to the discovery of several new species and the reclassification of others previously unknown to science. This is a simple and elegant solution to one of the most persistent technical challenges in marine molecular ecology.”

Links to the articles:

Biological Reviews

Molecular Ecology Resources

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Journal

Biological Reviews

DOI

10.1111/brv.70078 

Demonstration video of the swab [VIDEO] 



Close-up of hand swabbing sea urchin underwater tank.



Mai Bonomo holding sea urchin & swabbing it.


Credit

Tel Aviv University





Diver taking sample underwater.



Credit

Shachaf Ben-Ezra.

 

We should talk more at school: Researchers call for more conversation-rich learning as AI spreads

Generative Artificial Intelligence could result in a renewed emphasis on conversational approaches to teaching, researchers say, as chatbots make it easier to bypass recall-based learning and test the limits of traditional exams

University of Cambridge

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Generative Artificial Intelligence could result in a renewed emphasis on conversational approaches to teaching, researchers say, as chatbots make it easier to bypass recall-based learning and test the limits of traditional exams.

In a new conceptual paper, researchers at the University of Cambridge argue that AI raises questions for aspects of traditional models of education which focus on absorbing and memorising information.

The authors suggest that AI, like many earlier communications technologies, is forcing a rethink of education. They urge educators and policymakers to consider moving towards ‘dialogic’ learning, in which teachers and students talk more, explore problems together, and test ideas from different angles. They argue that AI might in future be used to support students to learn and work collaboratively while drawing on different sources of knowledge.

As an example of how this might be put into practice, their paper reimagines a basic science lesson about gravity.

In a conventional lesson, students might be taught key principles, laws and formulae relating to gravity, which they are expected to memorise and reproduce later. In the dialogic version, they begin with a question, such as “Why do objects fall to the ground?” The paper imagines students discussing this in groups, then running their ideas past an AI chatbot that takes on the guise of different thinkers such as Aristotle, Newton and Einstein.

Approaches like this, the authors suggest, would have the advantage of placing students ‘inside’ scholarly conversations relevant to the national curriculum, and help them to grasp key concepts by discussing and reasoning their way through them.

The paper, in the British Journal of Educational Technology, was co-authored by Rupert Wegerif, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge, and Dr Imogen Casebourne, Researcher at the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

“Every so often a technology comes along that forces a rethink of how we teach,” Wegerif said. “It happened with the internet, with blackboards – even with the development of writing. Now it’s happening with AI.”

“If ChatGPT can pass the exams we use to assess students, then at the very least we ought to be thinking deeply about what we are preparing them for. One thing we should consider is education as a more conversational, collaborative activity – an approach first advocated by Socrates, but also highly relevant to a digitally connected world with planet-sized problems.”

Although schools in the UK are receiving guidance on AI, the paper suggests that many strategies risk bolting the technology on to a system it is already capable of short-circuiting. Students who struggle when writing an essay for their homework, for example, will inevitably be tempted to ask a chatbot to write it for them, with a diminishing risk of being caught.

In such situations, Wegerif argues, AI becomes a “cognitive poison”, enabling students to offload their thinking and limiting their progress.

To address this, he proposes that education itself needs to adapt, and that students should enter into conversation with each other and with scholarly ideas. An example prototype tool is the Open University’s BCause project, which is exploring the use of technology to support balanced and civil online deliberations between groups of people and which uses AI to create summaries of the discussion.

The paper calls for a “double-dialogic pedagogy” in schools. This means, firstly, foregrounding dialogic methods of teaching in which students and teachers work through problems in conversation, systematically interrogating different perspectives, with AI acting as a guide and support. ‘ModeratorBot’, currently in development at Cambridge, is one such example. The AI joins group discussions and is intended to gently intervene when some voices dominate or introduce open-ended questions to support perspective-switching.

Secondly, the authors argue that AI might induct students into the “dialogue so far” on a given subject, by enabling them to test and develop their ideas against different theories and thinkers – as in the imagined lesson on gravity.

The paper also notes AI’s potential to act as a “devil’s advocate” that challenges students’ ideas to test their reasoning, A relevant example of how AI might do this is QReframer, developed by Simon Buckingham Shum, an AI tool that does not answer students’ questions but instead interrogates their assumptions, encouraging deeper critical reflection on a given subject.

Such innovations, the authors argue, demonstrate how Generative AI might be successfully integrated into education, but also how education will need to become more conversational and collaborative to accommodate it.

“Generative AI has arrived at a time when there are many other pressures on educational systems,” Casebourne said. “The question is whether it is adopted in ways that enable students to develop skills such as dialogue and critical thinking or ways that undermine this.”

The authors add that learning which illuminates different perspectives by placing students inside a dialogue could help equip young people to address the “polycrisis”: the term given to interconnected, global challenges – such as climate change, rapid population growth, and threats to democracy – that demand joined-up thinking and collective problem-solving.

“This is a sort of threshold moment,” Wegerif added. “The way we teach and learn needs to change. AI can be part of the remedy, but only with approaches to learning and assessment that reward collaborative inquiry and collective reasoning. There is no point just teaching students to regurgitate knowledge. AI can already do that better than we can.”

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Journal

British Journal of Educational Technology

DOI

10.1111/bjet.70026 

Article Title

A dialogic theoretical foundation for integrating generative AI into pedagogical design

Article Publication Date

17-Nov-2025