Netanyahu signals openness to Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan: Sources

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he said he would "condemn" leaders of nations who have recently recognized Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu is set to speak at the UNGA on Friday. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority -- the government exercising limited control over parts of the occupied West Bank, in cooperation with Israeli authorities -- will speak on Thursday.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the airport, waving Israeli flags and yellow banners, the latter representing the symbol adopted by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum to demand the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

"I will condemn those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, the rapists, the child burners, want to give them a state in the heart of the land of Israel," Netanyahu said. "This will not happen."

This week, several nations including Canada, France and the U.K. officially recognized Palestinian statehood, with leaders framing the move as a response to Israel's war in Gaza and Netanyahu's self-professed efforts to block any two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.

The Palestinian Authority foresees a future Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem, its borders aligned with the so-called “Green Line” recognized by the UN before the Six-Day War of 1967.

A Palestinian state is now recognized by 157 of the 193 UN member states, including 18 of 32 NATO allies.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

Israeli warplanes struck more than 170 targets across the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said in a Thursday morning social media post.

The 162nd Division is "fighting deep inside Gaza City," the IDF said.

The 98th and 36th divisions are also engaged in the city, which is the strip’s largest urban area, the IDF said.

Meanwhile, the IDF said the 99th Division is operating in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, with the 143rd "Gaza" Division engaged in the south.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has asked the Global Sumud Flotilla -- which is trying to ferry humanitarian aid through an Israeli naval blockade to the Gaza Strip -- to deliver its aid to Cyprus, after the group's boats came under drone attack in the Mediterranean Sea.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Meloni said, is working on a "mediation proposal" by which the flotilla's aid would be offloaded in Cyprus and handed over to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would then deliver the aid to the Gaza Strip.

"It is a proposal that seems to have the support of the Cypriot government, the Israeli government and, of course, the Italian government," Meloni said. "We are awaiting a response from the flotilla."

Israel has warned that it will not allow any vessels through its naval blockade. "Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday.

The flotilla has accused Israel of repeatedly using drones to attack its ships. On Wednesday, the flotilla published a video purporting to show a drone attack on one of its ships off the coast of Greece.

"My condemnation of what happened last night is complete," Meloni said on Wednesday. "We are conducting our investigations to establish who is responsible."

Italy has also said it will deploy a naval frigate to protect and rescue the flotilla and its members if necessary.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Hours after a drone strike hit a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, Israel is now telling it to offload the aid it is carrying at a nearby country, accusing it of "provocation."

"If this is not about provocation and serving Hamas, you are welcome to unload any aid you might have at any port in a nearby country outside Israel, from which it can be transferred peacefully to Gaza," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a statement Wednesday.

"Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade," he said.