Israel-Palestine live: US and Israel air differences over Gaza strategy

During their trip to Washington, chief envoys from a coalition of Arab and Islamic countries urged for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

“Our message is we believe it is absolutely necessary to end the fighting immediately,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on behalf of the group, appealing to the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Bin Farhan was in Washington as a member of the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Delegation.

Citing three anonymous officials in Tel Aviv, Politico reports that US President Joe Biden’s administration has told Israel that it has until the end of 2023 to conclude the war in Gaza against Hamas.

This deadline was underlined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel this week.

When Israeli officials told Blinken that fighting in southern Gaza could last several months, Blinken reportedly responded by saying: “You don’t have that much credit."

The chief of the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, had warned that the organisation's ability to provide aid to Palestinians is now “severely limited”.

In a statement posted on X, Lazzarini, stated that humanitarian assistance to the strip is on the “verge of collapse”.

“Our staff take their children to work so they know they are safe or can die together,” added Lazzarini. 

“In my 35 years working in complex emergencies, I have never written such a letter - predicting the killing of my staff and the collapse of the mandate I am expected to fulfill,” said Lazzarini. 

“The premise of Unrwa's mandate - to provide services to Palestine refugees until there is a political solution is at great risk: without safe shelter and aid, civilians in Gaza risk death or will be forced to Egypt and beyond.

"Forced displacement out of Gaza may end prospects for the political solution that is intrinsic to Unrwa's mandate, with grave risks for regional peace and security. A forced displacement beyond Palestinian land, reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba, must be prevented,” added Lazzarini.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the Security Council during a session on Friday to discuss the resolution for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

This is what he had to say: 

• “We have already seen the spillover in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. There is clearly, in my view, a serious risk of aggravating existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security.”
• “The risk of collapse of the humanitarian system is fundamentally linked to the complete lack of safety and security for our staff in Gaza and with the nature and intensity of military operations which are severely limiting access to people in desperate need.”
• “The threat to the safety and security of United Nations staff in Gaza is unprecedented. More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many with their families. This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our organisation.”
• “I cannot emphasise strongly enough the UN is totally committed to stay and deliver for the people of Gaza. And I pay tribute to the heroic humanitarian aid workers who remain committed to their work despite the enormous dangers to their health and their lives. But the situation is simply becoming untenable.”

The United Nations Security Council vote on the Arab and Islamic nations' Israel-Gaza ceasefire resolution (which has 54 co-sponsors and counting) has been moved to later in the evening. 

The 15-member body had been due to vote on the resolution on Friday morning in New York local time. 

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, in a rare move earlier this week to formally warn the Security Council of the global threat from Israel’s war on Gaza. 

The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October has now risen to 17,487, from 17,177 the day before, Gaza's health ministry said on Friday. 

The vast majority of those killed are women and children. More than 46,000 Palestinians have been wounded.

A far-right Israeli journalist, Yinon Magal, has posted footage on Thursday of Israeli soldiers celebrating the conquest of Gaza and calling for the genocide of its inhabitants.

The chant posted on Instagram by Magal says: "I'm coming to occupy Gaza / and beat Hezbollah / I stick by one mitzvah / to wipe off the seed of Amalek / I left home behind me / won't come back until victory / we know our slogan / there are no uninvolved civilians."

In 2005, not long after the disastrous US invasion of Iraq, liberal Hollywood felt comfortable enough to target then-US President George W Bush.

One of the biggest award contenders that year was Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana, a political drama exploring the questionable facets of America’s addiction to oil. 

George Clooney played a worn-out CIA operative tasked with assassinating an Arab prince who earns US ire by awarding a lucrative oil contract to the Chinese. 

Clooney earned his first and only Academy Award for Syriana and during a famous acceptance speech, declared: 

“We are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think. It's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular.

Read more: Why Hollywood needs a reckoning over its pro-Israel cancel culture

Thousands have rallied in cities across Jordan today to condemn the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. Demonstrators called for an end to the siege of Gaza,  the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow vital aid to access the enclave,  and to scrap Jordan’s peace agreement with Israel.

One rally was staged outside the US embassy, condemning US support for Israel, and calling for a boycott of US products.

Four Palestinians have reportedly been injured by Israeli gunfire during raids by Israeli forces on Hizma, a town north-east of Jerusalem, Wafa reported today. The forces besieged a mosque and attacked Friday worshippers with live ammunition, teargas, and stun grenades.

The Israeli military said that it had struck over 450 targets in Gaza over the last 24 hours, including military compounds, observation posts, and weapons depots.

The air strikes killed "numerous" Hamas operatives, the forces claimed.

The director of Unrwa affairs in Gaza, Thomas White, has said that "civil order is breaking down" in the besieged strip, reporting that aid convoys are being looted and UN vehicles stoned.

"The streets feel wild, particularly after dark... Society is on the brink of full-blown collapse," he posted on X.

Germany has cut funding to a support programme for victims of human trafficking run by an Egyptian women's rights organisation after its chair called for a ceasefire, Madamasr reported today.

Azza Soliman, a lawyer who heads the board of trustees at the Centre for Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA) reported that the project, which was intended to support female survivors of trafficking, had stopped receiving funds after Soliman signed a statement calling for a ceasefire along with the heads of 254 non-governmental organisations.

Israeli occupation forces assaulted worshippers attempting to attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevented them from accessing the compound for the ninth consecutive Friday, according to eye witness reports.

For weeks, young worshippers have been attempting to access the mosque but have been repelled by Israeli forces with tear gas.

Israeli forces have imposed restrictions on access to the mosque since the surprise Hamas assault on 7 October, only allowing the elderly to access the complex.

The Palestinian presidency has urged the United Nations Security Council to vote for a resolution later today demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after UN chief Antonio Guterres invoked the UN Charter's Article 99 to call the vote this week.

The latest version of the resolution seen by AFP calls the humanitarian situation in Gaza “catastrophic” and “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," along with protection of civilians, release of all Hamas hostages, and humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip.