WATCH: US envoy defends walkout during France's 'condescending' remarks, vows boycott

The United States dramatically walked out as France addressed the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Monday, escalating an extraordinary clash between the longtime allies after Paris claimed America was no longer a "beacon of human rights."

The U.S. delegation left the chamber as French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont delivered remarks during a Security Council meeting on Ukraine, days after France’s U.N. mission in Geneva accused Washington of standing alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia following a vote on the U.N.’s human rights chief.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of "disingenuous grandstanding" and warned that American diplomats would continue walking out during French statements until Paris renounces what he called its "condescending and disrespectful rhetoric."

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"Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world," Negrea told the council. "As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council."

The clash matters because the United States and France are among the world’s oldest allies, dating back to French support for the American Revolution, and today remain NATO partners and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Their cooperation is central to Western policy on Ukraine, European security and sanctions enforcement.

A French diplomat told Fox News Digital that the dispute should not be interpreted as a broader rupture between the longtime allies. "Differences in how we assess a vote do not call into question the quality of our relations or our ability to work together," the diplomat said.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon backed Washington’s response and sharply criticized France.

"I think the behavior of France is shameful," Danon told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "The U.S. is demonstrating moral clarity, standing for the real values of the U.N."

Danon accused France and other European countries of supporting voices within the United Nations that undermine rather than advance human rights. "It’s about time to reform the U.N., and I want to thank the U.S. for showing leadership on that issue," he said.

The confrontation marked a significant escalation from the unusually personal social media exchange that erupted after the General Assembly approved a second four-year term for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Türk, an Austrian diplomat who has served as U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2022, has drawn criticism from the United States and outside watchdogs over what they describe as uneven scrutiny of democracies and authoritarian governments. A 2024 analysis by UN Watch found that, among public country criticisms initiated by Türk or his office, he criticized the United States more often than China, North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Qatar combined, while issuing no such criticism of several repressive governments during the period reviewed.

Türk’s supporters, including France and the European Union, argue that his willingness to criticize powerful democracies reflects the independence and universality required of the U.N.’s top human rights official.

France’s Geneva mission had declared that the United States was no longer a human rights leader and claimed "the world no longer listens to it" after Washington joined nine other countries in voting against Türk’s extension.

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U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz responded by accusing France of backing an official who lectures democracies while "cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors."

Negrea went further Monday, invoking the history of the U.S.-French alliance and saying Washington had stood beside France whenever its freedom was threatened.

The United States had tolerated France’s "grandstanding" out of "a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect," he said, but would no longer remain silent in the face of what he described as feigned French "moral outrage."

Bonnafont did not directly address the walkout when he spoke again at the end of the meeting. Instead, he invoked the countries’ historic ties, noting that France helped the United States secure its independence and participated in celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary. "This is the spirit of the relationship between France and the United States," he said, before reaffirming France’s commitment to the U.N.’s work on peace, development and human rights.

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"The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development," Bonnafont said, adding that France would continue working to protect the institution’s independence and its ability to serve human rights and peace.

The dispute began after the General Assembly voted 144-10, with 13 abstentions, to extend Türk’s tenure through October 2030.

The United States had unsuccessfully sought an additional week for consultations, arguing that the vote was being rushed even though Türk’s current term does not expire until Oct. 11.

Washington also objected to Türk’s record. U.S. officials have accused him of disproportionately criticizing democracies, including the United States and Israel, while failing to confront authoritarian governments with the same urgency.

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Golden Dome could leave US vulnerable to drone attacks without Israeli systems

EXCLUSIVE: As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets President Donald Trump in Washington for talks expected to center on Iran and regional security, a new report is urging the administration to expand U.S.–Israel defense cooperation by making Israeli air-defense technology a central component of the Golden Dome, the planned layered missile shield intended to detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons and drones before they can strike the United States.

The report warns that the planned American missile shield could leave U.S. cities, military installations and critical infrastructure exposed to increasingly common drone and cruise-missile threats if Washington directs too much money toward costly space-based systems that could take years to become operational.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) report, titled "The Missing Shield: Acquiring Israeli Air Defenses Makes Golden Dome Sustainable," argues that the initiative’s current funding priorities favor strategic and space-based capabilities that could take years to develop while giving insufficient attention to more frequent, lower-altitude threats such as drones, cruise missiles and shorter-range projectiles.

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Ari Cicurel, the report’s author, told Fox News Digital that long-range defenses remain necessary but should not come at the expense of systems capable of stopping threats that could reach the United States now.

"Right now, the current approach is spending the time and money primarily on space, long-range threats, which are absolutely needed," Cicurel said. "But the most frequent and immediate threats are actually short-range projectiles, particularly drones."

Cicurel pointed to recent drone activity over American cities, including Washington, D.C., as evidence that the danger is not confined to overseas battlefields.

"We’ve seen several drone overflights of cities, including in Washington, D.C., over the past few months," he said. "And that’s certainly the most frequent threat that the U.S. needs to be addressing."

The report estimates that the Israeli-designed launchers it examined are 58% to 88% less expensive, interceptors 19% to 97% less expensive and radars 32% to 87% less expensive than the U.S. systems used for comparison. JINSA argues those savings could allow the Pentagon to purchase more launchers, expand interceptor stockpiles and preserve funding for expensive strategic and space-based technologies.

The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that Golden Dome is being designed as a layered system capable of addressing a broad range of threats.

"Golden Dome for America continues to focus its efforts on protecting America and delivering on President Trump’s vision for homeland defense," a Pentagon official said.

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The official said the implementation plan remains "dynamic" and is intended to defend against "the full spectrum of evolving threats," including hypersonic and ballistic missiles, advanced cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

The scale of the choices ahead was underscored by a May 12 Congressional Budget Office analysis. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a notional national missile-defense system broadly consistent with Trump’s executive order could cost approximately $1.2 trillion over 20 years to develop, deploy and operate. 

The office stressed that the estimate was not a projection of the Pentagon’s actual Golden Dome plan because the department had not released sufficient details about its intended architecture.

The Congressional Budget Office modeled four interceptor layers, including a space-based layer, two wide-area surface layers and a regional surface-defense layer.

The JINSA report proposes making Israeli-designed defenses a central part of those lower layers. It recommends Iron Dome for short-range threats, David’s Sling for medium-range threats, Arrow for ballistic missiles and Iron Beam for lower-cost laser interception.

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Cicurel said the proposal should not be seen simply as buying foreign weapons because Washington helped finance their development and American companies already participate in their production.

"What we’re really talking about is finally leveraging American tax dollars that have gone to help produce, help develop these Israeli systems," he said.

One hundred and two companies across 34 states participate in producing Israeli air defense systems.

Asked specifically whether the Pentagon is evaluating Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow or Iron Beam for purchase, integration or expanded co-production, the official declined to say.

"We have nothing new to announce at this time," the official said. "Due to operational security and the need to protect our competitive advantages, we will not provide further details."

The report also argues that recent fighting with Iran demonstrated how high interception rates can obscure vulnerabilities, including rapid depletion of interceptor inventories, strained production lines and attacks against radar systems anchoring defensive networks.

"Both the U.S. and the Israeli defense industrial bases were not well-equipped to handle the amount of production that either country needed," Cicurel said.

The report calls for dedicated Golden Dome funding for short- and medium-range defenses, expanded joint production, and the inclusion of Golden Dome cooperation in the next U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding. It also recommends updating export-control and technology-sharing rules, while acknowledging challenges involving interoperability, classified data and intellectual property.

Trump has repeatedly described the Golden Dome as a defining homeland-defense project, saying it would create a shield capable of protecting the United States from advanced missile threats. Whether Israeli systems become part of that architecture remains unclear, but Netanyahu’s visit gives both governments an opportunity to push the issue higher on the bilateral defense agenda.

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Freed American reveals brutal Iran prison ordeal, warns hostages face greater danger

For nearly six years, American conservationist Morad Tahbaz lived in what he described as hell inside Iran’s prison system. The worst four months were spent completely alone in a small cell, beneath a bright light that never went dark.

Tahbaz was held in Ward 2A of Iran’s Evin Prison, which he described as a high-security detention facility controlled by the intelligence branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He was allowed out only twice a day for about 10 minutes and was forced to wear a blindfold whenever he left, Tahbaz told Fox News Digital. His weekly call with his wife lasted only a few minutes and was monitored so closely that an official interrupted whenever he spoke in English.

"This is probably the harshest and toughest imprisonment that any prisoner will go through," Tahbaz, who was finally released in September 2023, told Fox News Digital of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence detention facility inside Iran's Evin Prison.

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Tahbaz was living and working in Iran as a conservationist when authorities arrested him alongside several colleagues in January 2018. He had co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which worked to protect endangered species including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard.

One of the accusations leveled against him, Tahbaz said, was that he had trained lizards to spy on Iranian military installations for Israel.

"You can’t make this stuff up," Tahbaz said in the Zoom interview with Fox News Digital. "It just gives you an idea of the kind of narrative that this regime comes up with. They’ll come up with anything."

What began with interrogations in January 2018 turned into nearly six years of imprisonment for the Iranian American conservationist.

Now free and back in his home in the U.S., Tahbaz fears the war between the United States and Iran could make the Americans still held by Iran both more vulnerable and more valuable as negotiating assets.

"I do think the strikes in Iran will have an impact on the hostages’ situation and their circumstances," he said.

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Tahbaz said he spent his first two years inside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence facility at Evin.

After his conviction, Tahbaz was transferred into the general prison population. He said his cellmates ranged from suspected ISIS members to former Iranian government ministers.

The isolation and physical conditions were accompanied by constant uncertainty.

"The uncertainty when you are a hostage is not like you think at the end of your sentence they’ll necessarily let you go," Tahbaz said. "They’ll just come up with another charge to keep you there for as long as you’re of value to them."

Tahbaz was released Sept. 18, 2023, with four other Americans in a Qatar-mediated agreement between Washington and Iran. The exchange also involved five Iranians held by the United States and the transfer of $6 billion in previously frozen Iranian funds into a restricted account for humanitarian transactions.

The negotiation brought Tahbaz home, but he believes Western governments have failed to establish consequences strong enough to stop Iran from detaining more foreign and dual nationals.

"This business of hostage-taking has been going on essentially since the beginning of the revolution," he said.

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"It will continue, in my opinion, as long as there is no deterrence," Tahbaz added. "None of the Western governments, in reality, have done anything significant about stopping this practice."

The issue returned to the forefront in July with the release of Dena Karari, a 53-year-old Iranian American from California.

Karari had been unable to leave Iran since December 2024 after authorities confiscated her passports. Her attorney said she faced allegations of espionage and collaboration with a hostile state. President Donald Trump announced in July that she had been allowed to leave and called the decision a "gesture of goodwill."

Karari was not continuously imprisoned, according to reporting about her case, but she remained under an exit ban and was repeatedly interrogated.

Her release offered relief during a widening conflict, but Tahbaz said dual nationals remain particularly vulnerable because Iran does not recognize their foreign citizenship.

"Iran doesn’t recognize any other nationality other than the Iranian," he said.

Authorities can develop a national-security case, secure a sentence and then preserve the prisoner for use in future negotiations, Tahbaz said.

"You’re condemned and they pass sentence and you’re in the system, and now you are a bargaining chip," he said.

The precise number of Americans currently imprisoned or prevented from leaving Iran remains unclear.

Reuters reported in March that at least six U.S. citizens or permanent residents were detained in Iran, including journalist Reza Valizadeh, businessman Kamran Hekmati and U.S. permanent resident Shahab Dalili.

Valizadeh, a former Radio Farda journalist, was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly collaborating with a hostile government. Hekmati was sentenced to two years for having visited Israel more than a decade earlier, according to his family. Dalili, who was arrested after traveling to Iran for his father’s funeral, was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly cooperating with a hostile government.

Advocates warned that escalating strikes could increase the risk that detainees would be harmed or used as leverage.

The State Department formally designated Hekmati, who has bladder cancer, as wrongfully detained in March.

Tahbaz said he believes three Americans remain in custody, although that number could not be independently confirmed. Some cases are deliberately kept private because families fear publicity could increase the danger to detainees.

His concerns about the current war are rooted in how Iranian interrogators responded to tensions with Washington during his own imprisonment.

"When I was taken in in January of 2018, and it was right at the beginning of the first Trump administration, the amount of frustration and anger at the rollback of the JCPOA at that time, I mean, it was thrown into my face just about every day of my interrogation in some way, shape or form," Tahbaz said, referring to a 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 

The United States formally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018, several months after Tahbaz’s arrest.

Tahbaz believes the current conflict could similarly be transferred onto prisoners who have no control over decisions made in Washington.

"It definitely will worsen the case of prisoners in custody and those who may be just under surveillance or potential hostages," he said.

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He described prisoners as one more source of leverage in Iran’s broader confrontation with the United States.

"You’re seeing that playing out even with the war, this tit for tat, you do this, we’ll do that," he said.

"The hostages are, you know, just a commodity from Iran’s perspective, to be used at the right time."

Tahbaz’s experience with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also shapes his analysis of the struggle unfolding inside Iran.

He stressed that he is not a political analyst and described his conclusions as personal assessments based on his experience and conversations with contacts familiar with the country.

Tahbaz said he believes competing interests within the Revolutionary Guard are fighting to preserve their political and economic power.

He pointed specifically to Khatam al-Anbiya, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' engineering and construction conglomerate. Tahbaz argued that sanctions have benefited powerful IRGC-linked entities by forcing oil sales, imports and money transfers into opaque black and gray markets.

"They have created a huge franchise for themselves because of these sanctions," he said.

"They don’t want to see the sanctions go away, because they will lose their franchise, if you will. They will lose their power, their control over the money and everything that goes along with it."

He said ordinary Iranians have suffered most from the resulting economic isolation and wartime conditions.

"The people who are hurt most by all of this are the people of Iran," Tahbaz said. "They’re unfortunately taking the brunt of all of these in their daily lives."

Tahbaz predicted Iranians would eventually return to the streets, but said many had lost confidence that Western governments would intervene to help remove the regime.

"I’m sure they’ll be back on the streets," he said. "But I think this notion that the Western states are going to step in and help them overthrow this regime, that went out the window."

Tahbaz said many Iranians had previously been strongly sympathetic toward the United States and initially hoped the conflict might end the Islamic Republic. That characterization reflects his assessment and conversations and could not be independently quantified.

He believes any future political movement will have to develop primarily inside Iran rather than being directed by opposition groups abroad.

"There’s a lot of hatred and anger just boiling there," Tahbaz said. "So it will boil up and over again without a doubt. The question is when, how, but it will happen again."

Tahbaz is recounting his imprisonment in his new book, "Green Parrots: A Memoir of Survival in Iran’s Evin Prison," scheduled for publication Sept. 29. The publisher says the book describes how he relied on skills developed while tracking endangered wildlife to survive nearly six years in Evin, including solitary confinement.

His release illustrates the contradiction confronting governments trying to recover their citizens: negotiations can bring individual prisoners home, but Tahbaz believes the broader practice will continue unless Iran faces meaningful deterrence for taking them.

He survived because governments ultimately negotiated for his freedom.

His warning is that as the war intensifies, the Americans still held in Iran could become more valuable to Tehran at precisely the moment their circumstances become more dangerous.

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Gunman fired at US consulate in Toronto, second time building was shot at this year

A gunman fired at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto on Monday, marking the second time this year someone shot at the building, according to authorities.

A single shell casing was found at the scene, and there was damage to the building's facade.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

"The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada are open and operating normally, though some routine U.S. citizen services in Toronto are being rescheduled," the consulate said in a statement.

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Toronto Deputy Police Chief Frank Barredo said there was a high-speed chase after the shooting that lasted an hour. However, no arrest was made and Barredo committed to continuing the search for those involved.

"We will approach this investigation with great seriousness," Barredo said at a news conference. "We will bring the people responsible for this to justice."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow described the shooting as a "brazen attack."

"I want to say to the person or persons responsible, we will get you," she said.

This was the second shooting targeting the U.S. Consulate this year, with the first coming on March 10, when two suspects allegedly fired multiple shots at the building before driving away in a stolen vehicle.

Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, 18, and Zara Jabbi, 19, were arrested last month and charged with multiple offenses in connection with the March shooting. The allegations have not been tested in court.

A police presence has been seen at the consulate since the first shooting.

Barredo said a patrol vehicle was outside the consulate with its lights on when the shooting happened. Two security personnel were also in the building.

Last month, police said they believed multiple shootings, including the one in March, could be tied to "multilayered" gun-for-hire networks that have also targeted Toronto synagogues.

Two popular Jewish-owned bakeries were targeted by gunfire over the weekend.

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Barredo said police had not ruled out a connection between Monday's consulate shooting and the attacks on the bakeries. The motive for the consulate shooting remains under investigation.

"Investigators will follow the evidence to where it leads," he said.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, said he was "disgusted" by the recent violence in Toronto.

"I’m totally disgusted by the shootings and vandalism that took place in Toronto over the last few days, including at two Jewish-owned businesses over the weekend and near the U.S. Consulate this morning," he said on X. "In all cases, active police investigations are underway. I expect all those responsible to be found, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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'Allah commanded me': Three women stabbed in Paris, crowd subdues suspect

The suspect subdued after allegedly stabbing three women in Paris on Monday uttered, "it is Allah who commanded me" to a crowd that appeared to be holding him down after the apparent terror attack.

The incident comes just days after another stabbing attack in England and a vehicular attack on a Pride parade in Berlin, Germany.

A 31-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was seen on the ground after allegedly stabbing three women, one of whom was reportedly pregnant.

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French outlet "Le Figaro" reported his utterances translated to "it is Allah who commanded me" as police sources told the outlet the suspect has an "unbalanced" profile.

While many observers, including on X, immediately pointed to Islamic terrorism, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he wanted to be "very careful about the motive for this violent act," pointing to the suspect’s "incoherent remarks."

Another translation of the exchange quotes one man as responding, "there is no Allah, bro," after the suspect allegedly attributed the stabbing to Allah, while another person says the crowd must "stampede this son of a b----."

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"No, seriously, he’s crazy," a third person is quoted as saying in French.

"He stabbed my girl here," a woman says in French.

The suspect reportedly attacked women at the Two Domes brewery in the Porte de Clichy section of the French capital.

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Two victims were listed in "absolute emergency" condition, while the third was listed in "relative emergency" condition, according to local press.

Reuters reported it had verified imagery of the suspect stabbing one woman while holding a knife in each hand.

The Paris-area attack comes two days after six men were arrested for "suspicion of murder" in connection with the stabbing of a 22-year-old man in Clapham, southwest London, United Kingdom, last week.

Metropolitan Police told the BBC the victim died after being stabbed at around 4:30 a.m. local time Saturday near Clapham High Street.

In Berlin, one person was pronounced dead and 29 were wounded after a suspect — later killed by German police — allegedly drove a vehicle into the public gathering.

The suspect in that case, Abdul Ballout, had German citizenship but "Lebanese roots," according to the Associated Press.

The outlet reported German officials are considering whether it was an act of Islamic extremism.

The cascade of violent incidents comes months after the White House released a National Security Strategy warning of "civilizational erasure" in Europe due to mass migration and demographic shifts, while highlighting a spate of terror attacks carried out by migrants.

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The White House pointed to a range of European data to support the administration’s concerns, citing studies showing asylum migration costing the Netherlands €475,000 per migrant, illegal immigration costing France €1.8 billion in 2023 and non-Western migrants committing disproportionate shares of violent crime in Denmark and Germany.

The immigration status of the suspects in the three most recent attacks was not immediately confirmed.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Waltz slams France after stunning social media attack on US after UN vote

France’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva launched a verbal attack against the U.S. following a contentious vote to give U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk another four-year term, accusing Washington of abandoning its role as a global human rights leader.

"The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore," the official French mission account posted on X Saturday. "Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it."

The mission added the hashtag "#AmericaAlone."

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U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz fired back, accusing France of using the attack to distract from its support for Türk.

"It is disappointing — though not surprising — that this is how France deflects on its shameful vote to coddle some of the worst human rights abusers," Waltz wrote on X. "France voted for someone who has been lecturing free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors."

During the vote by Ambassador Jeff Bartos, the U.S. representative for U.N. management and reform, declared that the U.N. human rights system "has been losing credibility for decades."

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"Mr. Türk has guided it to its deathbed," Bartos said. "And if you vote to reappoint Volker Türk for a four-year term, it will kick the bucket."

Bartos accused Türk of disproportionately condemning democracies while failing to respond adequately to abuses committed by authoritarian governments.

He said Türk had criticized the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Italy and, more than any other country, Israel. Bartos also accused Türk of remaining silent for 12 days after the Iranian government allegedly began a new wave of violence against its citizens, while quickly condemning U.S. military action against Iran.

Bartos further criticized Türk’s office for calling on Washington to lift sanctions on Cuba, maintaining what he called a discriminatory database targeting American companies and enabling the U.N.’s "anti-Israel machinery."

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France’s U.N. Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont offered a sharply different assessment during the General Assembly debate, saying Türk had demonstrated "rigor and impartiality" during a first term marked by growing attacks on multilateral institutions and the universality of human rights.

"He has been a voice of conscience, confronting states with reality and their responsibilities," Bonnafont said.

An official familiar with the U.S. position told Fox News Digital on background that American officials were surprised by France’s "brazen" public attack and rejected the suggestion that opposing one U.N. official’s reappointment amounted to opposing human rights.

The official said Washington and other delegations were also caught off guard by the expedited vote because Türk’s current term does not expire until Oct. 11.

The United States sought to postpone consideration for one week to allow additional consultations, but member states rejected the request. The General Assembly then approved Türk’s reappointment by a vote of 144-10, with 13 abstentions, extending his tenure from Oct. 12, 2026, through Oct. 11, 2030.

The assembly also rejected a Russian proposal to extend Türk’s term only through the end of 2026, which would have allowed the next U.N. secretary-general to participate in selecting the human rights chief.

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France’s post grouped Washington with authoritarian governments that also opposed Türk, but did not address whether those countries voted against his reappointment for the same reasons. The U.S. said its opposition reflected both concerns about Türk’s record and objections to the accelerated process.

UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog, published a 2024 analysis of public statements initiated by Türk or his office between Oct. 17, 2022, and Oct. 31, 2024.

The organization concluded that Türk criticized the United States more frequently than China, North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Qatar combined. It also said it found no self-initiated criticism during that period concerning abuses by Cuba, North Korea, Algeria, Eritrea, Mauritania, Lebanon or Qatar.

UN Watch’s methodology excluded statements required by the Human Rights Council, comments in mandated reports, broad updates to the council and other remarks that were not initiated at Türk’s discretion. Its findings therefore do not encompass every country reference, report or action by Türk’s office.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer called the renewal "rushed and unprecedented" and said it was "unseemly" for French President Emmanuel Macron’s government to attack the United States while celebrating Türk’s reappointment.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, responded more bluntly.

"Perhaps show some gratitude instead?" Gardiner wrote on X. "The French owe their very existence as a sovereign nation to The United States."

Türk’s supporters argue that his willingness to criticize powerful democracies is part of his responsibility to apply human rights standards universally. France and the European Union maintained that he had performed his duties objectively and that Secretary-General António Guterres acted within the rules allowing a high commissioner to serve a second four-year term.

Türk is set to become the first U.N. human rights chief to serve two complete four-year terms since the position was established in 1993.

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Hamas taps 'ultimate institutional survivor' as terror chief, sending message to Israel: expert

An old hand very familiar to Israel has emerged as the new political leader of Hamas following a secret insider election that took months to unfold, and one regional expert said the development signals the terrorist group will not be charting a new course.

Khalil al-Hayya, who has been a key negotiator for Hamas and who has survived multiple alleged assassination attempts, will now lead the group's political bureau. But Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Jaser AbuMousa told Fox News Digital his election is not exactly a passing of the torch.

"Expect more of the same, deliberately," AbuMousa said. "Al-Hayya is Hamas's chief negotiator and its ultimate institutional survivor, so you'll see continued engagement at the negotiating table, ceasefire talks, prisoner exchanges, but do not mistake that for moderation."

HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL

"Al-Hayya's victory is best understood as an act of institutional self-preservation: a battered organization reaching for the most familiar hand available," AbuMousa warned. "He is an experienced operator, and his elevation signals that Hamas, after the destruction of Gaza and the losses since Oct. 7, 2023, has prioritized organizational cohesion, armed continuity, and the preservation of its Iranian relationship over a genuine political reassessment."

Several members of al-Hayya's family, including four sons and other relatives, have also been killed in Israeli operations, according to reports.

In September 2025, Israel reportedly sought to kill al-Hayya in Qatar, striking a building where the Hamas delegation was staying.

"This is the paradox of Hamas leadership right now: the top job is essentially a death sentence, which is part of why the chair sat empty for nearly two years after Sinwar was killed," the expert said.

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"Al-Hayya himself also survived the Israeli strike in Doha last September. For an ordinary executive, that would be disqualifying," he noted. "Inside Hamas it's the opposite — surviving assassination is a credential."

"Expect him to lead the way his predecessors did: rarely in public, moving between Doha and mediating capitals, communicating through statements and negotiators rather than appearances, with the real command decentralized so no single strike decapitates the movement," AbuMousa continued. "An organization that rewards who has suffered most, rather than who has led best, has no real mechanism to correct course after a catastrophe like this one. That's what should make anyone nervous."

"Al-Hayya lost his four sons, which is a real and profound loss for any father. But two things can be true at once," he noted. "His personal grief is genuine, and inside Hamas that sacrifice also functions as political capital that lifts him above criticism."

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While Al-Hayya replaced Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024, his rise to power followed a secret election that stretched over months.

"After the near-total destruction of Gaza and staggering losses since Oct. 7, Hamas had a moment to reassess, and it chose continuity instead," AbuMousa said. "It elevated a loyal survivor tied to Iran and the military wing rather than someone offering a different path."

"The real story," according to AbuMousa, "is that Hamas decided its safest bet was to remain exactly what it was: armed, aligned with Tehran, and unwilling to reckon with where its own decisions led Gaza."

He also cautioned against viewing the leadership vote as a mandate from Gazans.

"This was a closed vote by a leadership council, not an election by the roughly 2 million Gazans whose lives Hamas claims to represent and who haven't voted since 2006. Many of them blame Hamas for exposing them to this catastrophe," he said.

"And watch the likely governance model: not a return to running Gaza openly, but a Hezbollah-style arrangement where Hamas sheds visible responsibility while keeping its weapons, its security structures, and a veto over any political deal," he added.

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