Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The Arab Group called on the UN Security Council on Friday to take urgent action to halt Israel’s “catastrophic” war in Gaza.
The group of Arab states also demanded an end to Israel's blockade of the enclave and the lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid, as UN officials say the entire population faces famine.
Israel has faced mounting international pressure over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN says only a “teaspoon” of aid has been allowed in after a more than two-month blockade.
Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group as chairman for the month of May, the UAE's UN envoy Mohamed Abushahab accused Israel of using starvation as “a weapon of war” and rejected its proposed aid mechanism, calling it a breach of international law.
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operations this week, distributes aid through several “secure” sites – manned by private security contractors – with the aim of keeping supplies out of the hands of Hamas. The mechanism cuts out traditional UN and other aid distributors, and critics have accused it of militarising humanitarian assistance.
“Palestinian lives are not less valuable than any other lives,” Mr Abushahab told reporters in New York.
Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming military operations in March following a short-lived truce. But a new proposal submitted by the US was approved by Israel on Thursday, and Hamas has said it is reviewing it.
Palestine’s deputy ambassador Majed Bamya said that international condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza was insufficient.
“We are hearing leaders considering taking a number of decisions in the right direction, and we salute these decisions, but we need to reach a decisive level,"Mr Bamya told reporters. "It is clear that Israel, until now, does not feel deterred. What we need are the actions that would deter them, that would hold them accountable for the decisions they make”.
He accused Israel of attempting to forcibly erase the Palestinian cause and people, warning that such efforts would fail.
Mr Bamya also pushed back against expectations that Palestinians should endure the crisis alone.
“The world cannot expect Palestinians to be superheroes, that they need to resist all of this on their own, that they need to figure out the way to survive, that they need to figure out how to stay in their land,” he said.
“Israel wants to convince them that if they want life, they can only find it away from them.”
This week, Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank. On Friday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the Palestinian territory which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Britain called the move a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood, and UN chief Antonio Guterres's spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution “in the wrong direction”.
Mr Abushahab said the Arab Group looks forward to the upcoming conference in June on the two-state solution co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France as it is “critical” for member states take concrete actions to advance sustainable peace.
“Recognition is not just a symbolic gesture; it is a concrete step for the just and lasting peace” he said.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke
Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke
Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO
Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision
Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision
Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO
Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)
Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)
Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision
Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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ELECTION%20RESULTS
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Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
