Israel-Gaza live updates: France, UK, Canada recognize Palestinian statehood
11 nations have decided to proceed with recognition of Palestine.
The Israeli military began a ground offensive in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, with two IDF divisions moving toward the city. A third was expected to join them.
In images taken from the Israel-Gaza border, plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the city, which is the largest in the Gaza Strip. Large explosions were reported across the city.
About 450,000 people had evacuated Gaza City as of Thursday, according to the IDF.
Latest headlines:
- 'There will be no Palestinian state,' Netanyahu says
- Carney says Canada recognizes Palestinian state
- France to recognize Palestinian statehood on Monday, UK on Sunday evening
- Palestinian President Abbas will be allowed to address UNGA virtually next week
- Over 450,000 Palestinians evacuate Gaza City, IDF says
France to recognize Palestinian statehood on Monday, UK on Sunday evening
France will recognize the state of Palestine on Monday after the United Kingdom does the same Sunday evening, a senior French official told ABC News.
French President Emmanuel Macron will address the United Nations on Monday, where he will discuss on the Middle East and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, during which he will formally recognize Palestine as a state, according to the official.
France will then send “a verbal note through the usual diplomatic channels to confirm this recognition,” the official said.
Along with France, nine other countries have decided to proceed with the recognition of Palestine: Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta, the United Kingdom and San Marino. These countries join more than 140 countries which have already recognized the state of Palestine.
The UK is expected to announce its recognition on the eve of the conference on Sunday evening, a French source said. However, British Prime Minister Kier Starmer will not attend Monday’s conference.
-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge
Israeli forces suspend transit of convoys through Jordanian crosspoint after 2 killed
Israeli forces suspended the transiting of "all convoys" traveling from Jordan into Israel at the Allenby Crossing a day after two people were killed there, Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement on Friday.
The crossing will remain closed until "the completion of the inquiry" into what happened, Zamir said.
Humanitarian aid convoys heading to Gaza use this corridor. There are two other crossing points between Israel and Jordan, but humanitarian aid trucks have been passing from Jordan to Gaza through Israel from this crossing point because it is closest to the border with Gaza.
-ABC News' Dorit Long
Palestinian President Abbas will be allowed to address UNGA virtually next week
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelming on Friday to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address next week's gathering of world leaders virtually after the Trump administration declined to grant him a visa.
The motion passed by a vote of 145-5 with six abstentions. The U.S., Israel, Paraguay, Palau and Nauru voted against it.
"The Trump administration has been clear: we must hold the [Palestine Liberation Organization] and the Palestinian Authority accountable for not complying with their commitments under the Oslo accords," the U.S. envoy said ahead of the vote.
Typically, leaders must be present in New York during UNGA to speak before the assembly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly met entirely virtually.
During the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. allowed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address the assembly through a pre-recorded video message -- a move that garnered pushback from Moscow at the time.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston
33 dead in strikes, 4 starve to death: Gaza Ministry of Health
At least 33 people died and 146 others were injured over the past 24 hours due to Israeli forces, Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said on Friday afternoon.
That brings the death toll in Gaza since the war began to 65,174, according to the health ministry.
Among those killed over the past day was one person trying to collect humanitarian aid, while another 17 were injured, the health ministry said.
Four people, including a child, starved to death in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry.
At least 440 people, including 147 children, have died of starvation in Gaza since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, the health ministry noted.
-ABC News' Samy Zyara