Gaza

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the 80th United Nations General Assembly that Israel is “burying the very idea of a Palestinian state,” while blasting decades of international inaction. He urged recognition of Palestinian statehood as “an indisputable right, not a reward.”

United States President Donald Trump has told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel’s war on Gaza must stop immediately as he called the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western countries a “reward” for Hamas.

“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately,” Trump told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, adding that he has been “deeply engaged” in trying to secure a ceasefire.

He reiterated his call for the captives held in Gaza to be returned home. “We have to get it done. We have to negotiate peace. We have to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back,” he said, referring to the 20 of the 48 remaining captives still believed to be alive.

Those who support peace should be united in demanding the release of the captives, he told the leaders gathered for the General Assembly.

“As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said.

In contrast, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a meeting on Sunday at the UN aimed at reviving the two-state solution that statehood for Palestinians “is a right, not a reward”.

Gaza truce offers

Trump called for an end to the war in Gaza, but had little criticism for Israel, instead blaming breakdowns in negotiations on Hamas. He insisted that Hamas, the Palestinian group that governed Gaza, “has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace”.

On the other side of the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually been accused of stalling the ceasefire negotiations since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

Israel targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, this month as the Palestinian leaders were meeting to discuss the latest truce proposal put forth by the US.

The Israeli prime minister broke the last ceasefire with Hamas in mid-March and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, triggering famine and starvation deaths.

Hamas said it is ready for a truce that will lead to the release of captives and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and a withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, but Netanyahu has refused to commit to a full withdrawal. This month, Netanyahu decided to seize Gaza City, launching a ground invasion that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced thousands.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war. The US has been heavily criticised for continuing to arm Israel in a war that a UN commission described as amounting to genocide.

Trump also dedicated some of his speech to the General Assembly to Iran, describing Tehran as the “world’s number one sponsor of terror”. He promised Iran would “never possess a nuclear weapon”.

“Three months ago in Operation Midnight Hammer, seven American B-2 bombers dropped 30,000lb [13,600kg] each bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facilities, totally obliterating everything. No other country on Earth could have done what we did,” Trump said.

While the US president claimed the operation demolished Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, a US defence assessment later suggested the strike only delayed Iran’s nuclear progress by several months.

‘Nobel Peace Prize’

The US president delivered his remarks minutes after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had spoken, denouncing authoritarianism, environmental destruction and inequality, a contrast in tone to Trump’s focus on unilateral strength, nationalism and grievances.

Trump began his speech by taking aim at the teleprompter and a broken elevator he said he encountered at the UN headquarters before moving on to paint his administration as an economic success story.

At several points, Trump returned to his record on foreign policy, claiming to have brought an end to “seven different wars” and suggesting his achievements warranted the Nobel Peace Prize. “Everyone says I should get a Nobel Peace Prize for these achievements,” he said before adding that he did not care about awards, only “saving lives”.

Taking a dig at the UN, Trump said the world body was not coming close to living up to its potential. “I had to end wars instead of the United Nations,” he said.

As the Ukraine conflict rumbles on, Trump argued the war would “never have started if I was president”. He described his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a good one” but said Moscow’s invasion is “not making Russia look good”.

He criticised Europe for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas despite sanctions, calling the practice “embarrassing”, and he singled out China and India as “primary funders” of Russia’s war effort.

“Everyone thought Russia would win in three days, but it didn’t,” Trump said while urging European Union nations to impose tariffs on Moscow.

Attacks on immigration and the UN

As the UN grapples with what experts describe as one of the most volatile periods in its 80-year history, Trump used the platform to attack the institution itself, accusing the body of “funding an assault on Western countries and their borders”. He claimed the organisation was helping “illegal aliens” enter the US by providing food, shelter, transportation and “debit cards”.

The International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, does provide assistance through disbursement cards and transport programmes but in coordination with governments – not to facilitate irregular border crossings.

On Europe, Trump warned of what he called an “invasion” of migrants and took aim at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, falsely claiming the Muslim politician wants to impose Islamic law.

The US president characterised migration and renewable energy as the biggest threat to the “free world”. He said some countries are “going to hell” over their border policies, while calling climate change “the greatest con job”.

“In closing, I just want to repeat that immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet,” he said.

He also renewed attacks on climate policies and accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of aiding drug smuggling.

Later on Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to meet Guterres as well as leaders from Ukraine, Argentina, the EU, and a group of Middle Eastern and Asian states. He will host a reception for more than 100 world leaders before returning to Washington, DC.

Sept. 23 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to address “the good and the bad” across the globe as one of the first speakers when the U.N. General Assembly’s annual general debate opens Tuesday in New York City.

Specifically, he’s expected to speak about his own accomplishments handling conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said ahead of his appearance.

Trump touted his role in negotiating peace across the globe Friday while making remarks on an executive order on H-1B visas.

“Nobody’s done a better job than I’ve done on world peace. Nobody’s settled so many wars as I have,” he said, claiming to have “settled” seven conflicts.

Trump spoke about the two ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine as well as his upcoming U.N. appearance to reporters Sunday.

“The hatred between [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky is very substantial,” Trump said, according to CBS News. “There’s a lot of bad blood.

“And, course, Gaza is a basic disaster. We’ve got to get that taken care of. But the big thing will be that I’m going to be speaking at the United Nations, and I hope to do a good job.”

Trump is likely to touch on some of the bigger news coming out of meetings on the sidelines of the general debate — the recognition by several countries of an independent Palestinian state.

At an international peace summit hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron formally recognized Palestine. His announcement was joined by the countries of Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino, and Australia, Britain and Canada made their own declarations Sunday.

“The time has come for Israel to live in peace and security,” Macron said, sharing his support for a two-state solution to the conflict. “The time has come to give justice to the Palestinian people and to recognize the state of Palestine.”

At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn, including 15 in Gaza City, according to medical sources.

Sept. 22 (UPI) — France and Saudi Arabia held an international peace summit Monday in New York City, one day before the start of the 80th U.N. General Assembly, where French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders formally recognized a Palestinian state.

Macron made the announcement about a two-state solution during his speech Monday evening, saying, “We can no longer wait” to stop the violence and secure peace. Macron called for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas nearly two years after the Oct. 7, attacks that killed 1,200.

“The time has come to free the 48 hostages detained by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombing of Gaza, the massacres and the fleeing people. The time has come because there’s a pressing urgency everywhere,” Macron said, as he vowed that recognizing Palestine would not take away Israel’s rights.

“The time has come for Israel to live in peace and security,” Macron said. “The time has come to give justice to the Palestinian people and to recognize the state of Palestine.”

France joins the UK, Canada and Australia in recognizing a Palestinian state, along with Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino.

Australia, Britain, Canada and Portugal made their own declarations Sunday.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called Monday’s peace summit with Saudi Arabia “a milestone for peace and a major diplomatic victory” nearly two years after a Hamas attack on Israel sent the region spiraling into war.

“France’s plan … aims for a two-state solution and includes concrete steps to prepare for the immediate post-war period … so that an international stabilization mission can come to Gaza to ensure the protection of both Palestinians and Israelis,” Barrot told French broadcaster TF1, according to a translation by CNN.

With Sunday’s announcements, more than 150 nations now recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. This doesn’t include G7 members Germany, Italy or the United States. Israel and the United States are expected to boycott Sunday’s summit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at the nations expressing their preference for a two-state solution Sunday, saying, “there will be no Palestinian state.” Netanyahu argued recognition of a Palestinian state would give “a huge reward to terrorism.”

Two unnamed sources told The Telegraph that the Israeli government is considering options for retaliating against France for recognizing Palestine, including possibly closing France’s consulate in Jerusalem.

The U.N. General Assembly on Friday voted 145-5 in favor of a motion to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the international body this week in New York. Israel and the United States voted against the motion.

President Donald Trump will be in New York tomorrow, to mark the 80th anniversary of the UN’s General Assembly founding.

An Australian medic working at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital says she has lost count of the number of amputations she has had to perform, as two more hospitals were shut down amid Israel’s relentless bombardment of the enclave.

“On the first day, I started off thinking I’ve never seen anything like this, and then in the following days I’ve seen … more. I’ve lost count of the number of amputations I’ve done,” Dr Saya Aziz, an anaesthesiologist, told Al Jazeera.

“The worst thing is these patients are alive … when we take them into the [operation] theatre they’re alive, they’re bleeding to death,” she said, adding how in the recess area of the hospital, dangling bits of toes and flesh and people with missing limbs have become a common sight.

Dr Aziz, who joined the barely functional medical facility about a week ago, says that as soon as hospital staff members hear a huge bomb, within minutes, the hospital fills up with mass casualties.

“You’ll hear the wailing, the screams, the chaos of family members bringing in the patients … it is a bloodbath,” she said.

The doctor added that the hospital’s operating theatre is also in a sordid state with flies everywhere, while Israel has curbed the entry of aid, including medical supplies, into Gaza.

“Everything is just filthy. I can’t even clean the patients covered in dust, gun powder, we’ve got no gauze … I wish I had a couple of towels, which I could wash the patients with. I have no fluids to clean them with. I have no pain relief to give them. My heart breaks,” Aziz said.

Healthcare crippled by Israeli attacks

Al-Shifa Hospital was once the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, but most of it now lies in ruins after several rounds of intense Israeli ground and air sieges since the start of the war in October 2023.

Gaza’s healthcare facilities have been repeatedly targeted by Israel, including with 2,000-pound bombs supplied by the United States, Israel’s closest ally.

Hundreds of medics have been killed in the 23 months of brutal war that has been dubbed a genocide by numerous rights organisations, including the United Nations.

Dr Adnan Al-Bursh, the head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa Hospital, was tortured to death in an Israeli prison months after he was arrested in December 2023. Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was arrested last November. He still languishes in an Israeli jail.

Targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Aziz said that on Sunday, Israel’s attacks also killed one of the hospital’s nursing staff and his wife.

“Their one surviving child, an 11-year-old, had burns on his face. I couldn’t even give him any pain relief,” she said, tearing up.

“His name is Mohammad, and he kept saying, ‘I could see my father, I never even said goodbye to him.’”

Israel has routinely justified its deadly attacks on healthcare facilities across Gaza by saying it was targeting Hamas, though it has never provided any proof for its claims.

But media reports, including from Al Jazeera, have documented evidence of Israel’s targeting of medics and hospitals during the course of the devastating war that has killed more than 65,300 Palestinians.

On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said two Gaza City hospitals stopped services due to the escalation of Israel’s ground offensive and damage caused by continued Israeli bombing, as tanks advanced deeper into Gaza City.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City have been forced to flee, as Israel has vowed to seize the city, which hosted more than a million people ahead of the latest Israeli offensive that began a few weeks ago.

Famine has also spread in Gaza as Israel continues to block the entry of aid. At least 440 people have died due to starvation so far.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that al-Rantissi Children’s Hospital had been badly damaged in an Israeli bombardment a few days ago. It also reported Israeli attacks in the vicinity of the nearby St John Eye Hospital, which forced the suspension of services there, too.

“The occupation deliberately and systematically targets the healthcare system in the Gaza governorate as part of its genocidal policy against the Strip,” it said.

“None of the facilities or hospitals have safe access routes that allow patients and the wounded to reach them,” the ministry added.

But despite Israel’s attacks, doctors at the major urban centre’s al-Shifa Hospital say leaving patients is not an option.

“Our medical crews are still carrying out their humanitarian mission in this hospital complex under heavy pressure,” the director of the hospital, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili in Gaza City on Saturday.

“Their message continues: We serve patients and the injured to the best of our abilities.”

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday called Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip a “genocide,” marking a decisive shift in her government’s stance on the conflict — and putting it at odds with the United States.

Sheinbaum, who is one of a handful Jewish heads of state, has come under increasing pressure from members of her leftist coalition to more forcefully condemn Israel’s assault on the small Palestinian enclave, where at least 65,000 people have died and more than half a million are trapped in famine.

Speaking to journalists at her daily news conference, Sheinbaum said Mexico stands “with the international community to stop this genocide in Gaza.”

Claudia Sheinbaum, 63, is the first Jewish leader of Mexico, a nation that is overwhelmingly Catholic.

Her comments came amid a meeting in New York of the United Nations General Assembly, where several countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Australia, have formally recognized Palestine as a state. Mexico has formally supported Palestinian statehood for years.

Sheinbaum, 63, is the first Jewish leader of Mexico, a nation that is overwhelmingly Catholic. She grew up in a secular household and rarely talks about her Jewish identity.

Sheinbaum, who entered politics from the world of leftist activism, has long supported the Palestinian cause. In 2009, she wrote a letter to Mexican newspaper La Jornada fiercely condemning Israel’s actions in an earlier war with Gaza, where 13 Israelis and more than 1,000 Palestinian civilians and militants had been killed.

Sheinbaum evoked the Holocaust, saying “many of my relatives … were exterminated in concentration camps.”

“I can only watch with horror the images of the Israeli bombing of Gaza,” she wrote. “Nothing justifies the murder of Palestinian civilians. Nothing, nothing, nothing, can justify the murder of a child.”

The latest conflict broke out in 2023 after Hamas fighters broke through a border fence encircling Gaza and killed more than 1,000 Israelis, most of them civilians.

Israel responded with a punishing assault on Gaza from air, land and sea, displacing nearly all of the strip’s 2 million people and damaging or destroying 90% of homes.

Since taking office last year, Sheinbaum has repeatedly called for a cease-fire and reiterated Mexico’s support for a two-state solution in the region, but until Monday she had refrained from categorizing what is unfolding in Gaza as a genocide.

That was possibly to avert conflict with the United States, which has given more foreign assistance to Israel than any other country globally in the decades since World War II, and which has supported the war on Gaza with billions of dollars in weapons and other military aid.

Sheinbaum, whose nation’s economy depends heavily on trade with the U.S., has spent much of her first year in office seeking to appease President Trump on the issues of security and migration in order to avoid the worst of his threatened tariffs on Mexican imports.

Her comments on Gaza come amid growing global consensus that Israel is committing genocide.

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars has declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The International Assn. of Genocide Scholars recently passed a resolution that says Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as spelled out in the United Nations convention on genocide.

And this month, a U.N. commission of inquiry also found Israel has committed genocide.

An Israeli flag waves over debris in an area of the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel last month. Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave has killed at least 65,000 people.

(Maya Levin / Associated Press)

“Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group,” the commission wrote.

It added that under the Genocide Convention, other nations have an obligation to “prevent and punish the crime of genocide.”

Israeli officials dismissed the report as “baseless.”

Marking 80 years of the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said its principles are “under assault as never before”. Gaza’s devastation, along with wars in Sudan and Ukraine, was cited as proof of the urgent need for unity.

Several Western nations, including the UK, Australia, and Canada, have formally recognised Palestine, drawing praise from Palestinians and outrage from the Israeli government, which insists it will never allow a Palestinian state.

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza City has obliterated families, flattened homes, and stretched hospitals to breaking point. As Palestinians flee with nowhere safe to go, children are collapsing from exhaustion and rescue workers are still trying to save people from the rubble.

Sept. 21 (UPI) — Three of Israel’s oldest allies — Australia, Britain and Canada — formally recognized the state of Palestine on Sunday, and more countries are expected to follow suit in the coming week.

The three countries join 147 other nations that recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. Also expected to make announcements — some Monday at a U.N. conference to discuss a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — are Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta, and possibly Lichtenstein and New Zealand — according to The Guardian.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said London’s decision to recognize Palestine was in an effort to support the possibility of a two-state solution, which it views as being under threat amid the war with Israel.

She also said Hamas “can have no role” in the future of an independent Palestine and called for the release of the remaining hostages from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

“Recognition is only one part of what must be a stronger and wider push for peace,” she said. “We need to end the conflict in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and get humanitarian aid to all those who desperately need it.

“That requires not just an immediate cease-fire, but a plan for a durable peace, which will be a key to my diplomatic drive at the U.N. this week.”

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, welcomed Sunday’s announcement.

“Any step to strengthen the legitimate Palestinian rights, foremost among them the full sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem and the right to self-determination, is a welcomed step,” he told CNN.

In response to the announcements by Australia, Britain and Canada, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused members of the international community of attempting to “force a terror state upon us in the heart of our land.”

“I have a clear message to those leaders recognizing a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7th: You are giving a massive prize to terror,” he said in a statement.

“There will be no Palestinian state.”

Sept. 20 (UPI) — More than half of Gaza City’s residents have evacuated as Israel Defense Forces continue their offensive in what they call a Hamas stronghold.

Gaza City has about 1 million residents, but IDF officials said more than half of them heeded their warning and began evacuating the city in late August, The Times of Israel reported on Saturday.

Israel has designated a humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip and ordered all Palestinians across Gaza City to immediately evacuate to the humanitarian zone before it launched its new offensive on Tuesday.

Among those traveling to the humanitarian zone are Ahmed Daif Allah, who reportedly lost his eyesight during an IDF airstrike, and his wife, Rafiq.

“The journey is incredibly tough, more than anyone could imagine,” Rafiq told media, as reported by NBC News.

“There is no pity,” she added. “There is no humanity.”

The IDF is continuing its military operation against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza City with “unprecedented force,” IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Friday.

While hundreds of thousands have evacuated Gaza City, an estimated 84 Gazans were killed throughout the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including 69 in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera.

The report did not cite a source or say how many of those reported killed are Hamas members or civilians.

Gaza City is located in the northern Gaza Strip, and the IDF warned its residents to evacuate ahead of its military offensive against Hamas in an effort to recover more of the about 50 remaining hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023.

Mediterranean Sea – Everyone gathered on the top deck of a Global Sumud Flotilla vessel loaded with humanitarian supplies for Gaza and volunteers determined to deliver it.

Security protocols in case of an emergency were reviewed and put into action: life vests, head counts and designated muster points.

They were training for scenarios that could occur on any vessel – fire, someone falling overboard, collision.

But this training was different because there was another scenario.

The volunteers were instructed on how to raise their hands in the event that Israeli soldiers intercepted the vessel, boarded it and detained them. The focus is on acting in a nonviolent way, in accordance with their mission.

The flotilla was approaching the “yellow zone” after it departed from Sicily, Italy – the zone in international waters between Italy and Cyprus where Israeli attacks are possible – and it was time to practise how to act if an attack occurred.

‘Old propaganda strategy’

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently described the humanitarian flotilla, which is sailing to break the Israeli siege on the people of Gaza, as a “jihadi flotilla” and claimed it has ties to Hamas.

The so-called “Flotilla to Gaza” is openly backed by jihadi Hamas.

In Hamas’s own words: “We call for mobilizing all means to support the Global Steadfastness Flotilla heading to Gaza.”

This is not humanitarian. This is a jihadist initiative serving the terror group’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/vciWdnTswC

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 18, 2025

Earlier this month, as the flotilla set sail from Spain, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he wanted to declare the humanitarian activists “terrorists” and detain them accordingly.

Flotilla steering committee member Saif Abukeshek, speaking to journalists online on Saturday, said such allegations are “psychological warfare” and added: “The propaganda is an old strategy.”

In the training, a coordinator tells the gathered group: “We have to decide collectively whether we will react or whether someone should intervene if soldiers begin to beat one of us.”

The question was met with silence but could not be avoided. Holding a bullhorn, the coordinator took the initiative.

“If I am dragged or beaten, I don’t want any of you to react or tell the soldiers to stop. Please respect my decision.”

The bullhorn was passed around. One by one, the volunteers repeated the words. By the third volunteer, the phrase had been reduced to two words: “the same”. All the volunteers echoed it.

The strategy was conceived to prevent further violence. Any reaction – even asking Israeli soldiers to stop – could provoke them to more violence.

One volunteer summed it up: “If you react or speak up while being beaten, you will not only put your own safety at risk but also that of the others – and you will break the will of the group.”

Another told Al Jazeera: “We know why we are here and the risks we have taken.”

Mental and physical pressures

The delays and challenges the flotilla has faced have taken a toll on its organisers and volunteers alike.

Drone attacks while at port in Tunisia, technical difficulties faced by boats ill-suited to the high seas and the general difficulties inherent in organising an underfunded civilian initiative to sail to Gaza have put pressure on everyone.

Every person on board also has to do a night watch, scanning the skies all night for more drone attacks while their companions rest.

When asked what keeps them going, each of them cites the urge to act to help the people of Gaza, who are suffering bombardments, starvation and loss as Israel wages war on them.

They know they are sailing into risky waters because Israel has intercepted all past flotillas, even killing 10 people on board the Mavi Marmara a decade ago.

The boats had set out for Sicily from Tunisia on Tuesday with a reduced number of people on board after hard decisions were made.

There were more people wanting to be on a flotilla boat than there was capacity on the vessels, especially as some boats failed technical inspections – the organisers worrying about their ability to cope with the unpredictable nature of the Mediterranean.

Lists were read in Bizerte, Tunisia. Crews were reshuffled among the boats, and tears flowed as volunteers who had forged strong emotional ties said their goodbyes.

Their part on board the mission was over for now, but their support for the flotilla bound for Gaza would continue on land.

Some talked to the coordinators to try to get their spots back. Others waited with their colleagues on the boats, helping out until they had to return to a hotel to await their flights back home.

“Please put this [Palestinian] flag somewhere on the boat. It has been in my friend’s window for years,” said Marcin, a Polish volunteer living in Norway who was among those cut from the crew list.

Eventually, everyone boarded their assigned ships and met their crews. All hands were on deck to clean and prepare the vessels for the next leg of the journey to Italy. Some of the volunteers have sailing experience, and others with no previous sailing experience learned quickly to help out.

After a few days in Italy, the boats have set out again, sailing through the yellow zone, getting ever closer to the red zone, where the danger multiplies 100 nautical miles (185km) from the Gaza shore.

And the drills continue.

Displaced Gaza City residents recount being chased by Israeli quadcopters after being forced to flee their shelters.

At least 76 killed in Gaza City alone as 450,000 flee Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave’s main urban centre.

At least 91 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn, where Israeli forces continue to heavily bomb Gaza City, the main urban centre in the besieged enclave.

Medical sources across Gaza hospitals told Al Jazeera on Saturday that at least 76 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City alone, where the Israeli army has been trying to forcibly expel the entire population in recent weeks.

In the area’s Tuffah neighbourhood, at least six people were killed in an Israeli drone attack. In western Gaza City’s Shati camp, at least five people, including two girls, were killed in an Israeli assault, an ambulance source told our Al Jazeera colleagues on the ground.

The Israeli military estimates it has demolished up to 20 tower blocks over the past two weeks in the area.

According to the Gaza Civil Defence, some 450,000 – or about half the urban centre’s population – have fled Gaza City since Israel in August announced its decision to capture and occupy it.

 Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from central Gaza, said Israeli forces were attacking people as they fled following Israel’s forced expulsion orders.

“The army is using quadcopters to kill people trying to escape their neighbourhoods and using these robots with residents saying every time they explode it feels like an earthquake,” she reported.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruling entity Hamas released on Saturday what it called a “farewell picture” of 48 Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Hamas has persistently warned that intensifying Israeli attacks and a ground invasion would endanger the lives of the captives; some have already been killed by Israeli bombs.

The armed Palestinian group also claims that captives are “scattered throughout the neighbourhoods” of besieged Gaza City.

Situation in al-Mawasi ‘heartbreaking’

While the Israeli army has intensified its deadly bombing and destruction of Gaza City, it said it is also continuing military operations in the south.

At least three of the dead were aid seekers killed by Israeli forces at a distribution centre near Rafah in southern Gaza.

Al Jazeera’s Khoudary said the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza, touted by the Israeli army as a so-called “safe zone” and where Palestinians in the north were told to flee from, was “overcrowded”, leaving many with few alternatives.

“We’re seeing some tents on the sides of the streets. People have literally pitched their tents in places where there’s no water, electricity or infrastructure,” she said.

“That’s because Palestinians do not have any other option.”

Michail Fotiadis from medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says the situation in al-Mawasi is “heartbreaking”.

“Everybody is looking for a place to pitch a tent, but the materials are not available. The situation is really dire for the population. Access to water is very difficult,” Fotiadis told Al Jazeera from al-Mawasi, described by Israel as a “humanitarian zone”.

He said more Palestinians continue to arrive from northern Gaza with nothing after escaping Israel’s military onslaught.

“Usually, in a situation like this, survival prevails. But Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have had to endure so many different displacements, so many situations of fear. They are beyond desperation.”

The Encampments offers an urgent, intimate portrait of the student movement in the United States, ignited at Columbia University as students protested against their universities’ ties to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Their actions led to a nationwide uprising, with encampments spreading across hundreds of campuses. Featuring detained activist Mahmoud Khalil, alongside professors, whistleblowers, and organisers, the film captures the deeper stakes of a historic moment that continues to reverberate across the globe.

The Encampments is a documentary film by Michael T Workman and Kei Pritsker.

At least four children were killed in the latest Israeli air strike on a school which was being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili shows us the aftermath of the strike.

Israeli forces continue to carry out attacks on Gaza’s main urban centre, with two children killed in a strike on tent.

The United States has blocked yet another United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for Israel to lift all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid.

Under the UN charter, the Security Council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

It’s made up of 15 members – 10 elected and five permanent, which have the power to veto resolutions.

This time, the 10 elected members plus the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China supported the resolution.

But Israel’s biggest ally – the US – refused, saying it did not condemn Hamas or recognise Israel’s right to defend itself.

Does it mean the UN Security Council is unable to carry out its mandate?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan

Guests:

William Lawrence – Professor of political science and international affairs at American University

Ardi Imseis – Associate professor of law at Queen’s University and a former UN legal officer

Xavier Abu Eid – Political scientist and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization

UN General Assembly votes 145-5, allowing President Mahmoud Abbas to address the UNGA next week by video after the US denied him a visa.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address its annual gathering of world leaders next week by video link after the United States refused to grant him a visa to travel to New York in person.

“The State of Palestine may submit a prerecorded statement of its President, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall,” said the resolution, which passed on Friday with 145 votes in favour, five opposed, and six abstentions.

The move comes weeks after the Palestinian Authority urged Washington to reinstate Abbas’s visa so that he could travel to the United States to lead the Palestinian delegation and address the UNGA in person.

Abbas was among 80 Palestinian officials whose visas were revoked by the US State Department, citing national security concerns.

The General Assembly speeches are scheduled to begin on Tuesday after leaders gather on Monday for a summit — hosted by France and Saudi Arabia — that aims to build momentum towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Gaza is issue number one at the UN General Assembly,” Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays reported from New York.

“All leaders come here and give their speeches. But on this occasion … Mahmoud Abbas has been denied a visa … which is very unusual.”

Bays said the overwhelming vote in favour of Abbas addressing the UNGA by video was a “snapshot of international opinion on Palestine and Gaza”, and that it showed “very few countries that are backing the side of Israel and the US”.

The Trump administration’s decision has received widespread criticism, with the UN asserting that it violates the Host Country Agreement, under which the US is obligated to permit heads of state and government to travel to New York for annual meetings and diplomatic business.

The US visa curbs come amid growing condemnation of Israel’s war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and a wave of Israeli settler and military violence in the occupied West Bank.

In response to Israel’s devastating attacks over the past nearly two years, an increasing number of countries, mainly in Europe, have announced intentions to back Palestinian statehood at the UN this September.

According to local health officials, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,141 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023, with thousands more believed to be buried in the rubble.