The UN General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new 'rights and privileges' to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favourably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations. The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
- Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western halves of Rafah on Friday, effectively encircling the entire eastern side of the city in the southern Gaza Strip.
- UNICEF's senior emergency coordinator in Gaza said Friday that "more than 100,000 people have fled Rafah" as the city braces for an imminent full-scale Israeli ground assault.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he hopes he and Biden can overcome their disagreements over the war, after Biden withheld some weapons from Israel.
- Palestinian militant group Hamas said early Friday that its delegation attending ceasefire negotiations in Cairo had left the city for Qatar, adding the "ball is now completely" in Israel's hands.
- At least 34,904 Palestinians have been killed and 78,514 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Israel has submitted its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage-release deal, and deems the latest round of negotiations in Cairo to have ended, a senior Israeli official said, confirming earlier reports of an end to this round in the Egyptian capital.
- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it was temporarily shuttering its east Jerusalem headquarters after "Israeli extremists" set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks.
- Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta are considering recognising a Palestinian state on May 21, according to a report by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE issued on Thursday. Israel said that the plan constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
- Israeli strikes on Syria early Thursday targeted facilities belonging to Iraq's Al-Nujaba armed movement, a war monitor and the pro-Iran group said, with Damascus saying an unidentified building was attacked. No casualties were reported.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)
