• At least seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Wednesday.

Israeli army claims to have killed Hamas’s head of finance

The Israeli army says its forces have killed Mohammad Abu Alwan, described by the military as the head of Hamas’s finance department, in an attack on Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

According to an Israeli military statement released on Thursday, Abu Alwan, who the military claimed began his activities in the area a decade ago, was “involved in budgeting all of Hamas’s branches”.

The army further claimed that more than a billion shekels (about $330m) were transferred under his direction to finance Hamas’s activities, adding that he “served as a decisive factor in preserving Hamas’s governance and survival.”

Palestinian killed, another wounded in Israeli air strike in Central Gaza Strip

One Palestinian has been killed and another wounded after an Israeli air strike struck a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, in the Central Gaza Strip, our colleagues on the ground are reporting, quoting Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Two Palestinians killed, nine injured, in Israeli attacks on Central Gaza Strip

At least two Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Central Gaza Strip since dawn, while nine others were injured.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted local sources reporting that a young man was shot dead by Israeli forces, west of the town of Al-Zahra.

Wafa said that the bombing of the vehicle in the Central Gaza Strip, which we reported earlier, happened near the American Hospital in the town of Al-Zawaida.

1 dead, 14 Palestinians injured in Israeli air strike on Gaza City

An Israeli air strike has killed one Palestinian and injured 14 others in Gaza City, a source in Gaza’s ambulance and emergency services tells Al Jazeera.

The strike targeted a vehicle in the Sheikh Ijlin neighbourhood of Gaza City, the source said.

Palestine at the UNGA Summit

US special envoy says Gaza reconstruction goals are ‘transparent’

US special envoy Jared Kushner says that the goals for Gaza’s reconstruction are “transparent: a fully demilitarized Gaza, governed responsibly by Palestinians, where people can live with dignity, opportunity, hope and peace”.

Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, said in a statement on X that “much of what we presented today did not exist a year ago”. He referenced that “there is a ceasefire, the hostages are home, a Palestinian technocratic government is ready, a security and demilitarization framework has been developed, and 66 projects are ready to begin rebuilding Gaza and improving people’s lives”.

“President Trump challenged us to break the old cycle and build something different,” he said.

“We have made real progress. Now we will move forward to the next phase.”

Board of Peace plans $2.4bn Gaza reconstruction amid Israeli ‘ceasefire’ violations

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the US-led Board of Peace outlined a six-month plan for Gaza’s reconstruction and governance.

But after nearly a year of Israeli “ceasefire” violations, critics say there’s no sign it can be implemented successfully.

Omar Shaban, director of the Gaza-based think tank PalThink for Strategic Studies and founder of Palestinian branches for Amnesty International, says reconstruction cannot begin without funding, stability and clear governance.

Hamas blames disruption of Gaza roadmap on Israel and Peace Council failings

Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, has said the group is “fully prepared to implement the agreed-upon roadmap with the Peace Council regarding the peace plan in the Gaza Strip” but blamed delays in moving forward with the plan on Israel and Peace Council failings.

In a statement on Thursday, Qassem stated the “complete disruption of the ceasefire agreement and the associated roadmap stems from the occupation [Israeli] government’s refusal to commit to the agreement and its escalation of aggression against the people of the Gaza Strip, alongside the inability of the Peace Council and its representative [Nickolay] Mladenov to compel the occupation to implement it”.

The spokesperson emphasized “the necessity for all parties, especially the US administration and the Peace Council, to take action to facilitate the entry of the Technocrat Committee into the Gaza Strip so that it can fulfill its duties towards the people of the Strip and begin introducing international forces in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and the associated roadmap”.

Palestinians in Gaza expect action, not words from UN General Assembly

People in Gaza are looking for something that goes far beyond another diplomatic address at the UN General Assembly today, after years of destruction and genocide.

People are sceptical about the outcome of these meetings. They are looking for concrete steps from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, [who will deliver Palestine’s address today.]

They expect him to take a clear position on ending the genocide and protecting civilians, a credible plan for rebuilding Gaza and a political vision that gives Palestinians a say in their own future. People don’t want to hear more promises but want a way forward.

Abbas is expected to deliver his speech via video after he was denied a US visa and this stresses the ongoing restrictions facing Palestinian representation on the international stage.

Qatar highlights Gaza’s ‘urgent humanitarian needs’ on sidelines of UNGA meeting

Qatar has highlighted “the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people” and the importance of formally recognizing an independent Palestinian state at a meeting on Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction efforts on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York.

Qatar was represented by its Minister of State for International Cooperation, Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on social media on Thursday.

“Recovery and reconstruction efforts must ultimately contribute to reunifying the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and to establishing a credible, irreversible path towards realizing the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state.”

The minister also emphasized the importance of maintaining the ceasefire, ensuring that the “comprehensive peace plan” is implemented and urged the need for “tangible progress on the ground… to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people”.

UN report says 92 percent of Gaza’s economic establishments damaged or destroyed

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has put the cost of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction needs at an estimated $71.5bn in a report published on Thursday.

The report highlights “a severe deterioration across the Occupied Palestinian Territory” during Israel’s genocidal war, as about 92 percent of the Strip’s economic establishments have been damaged or destroyed.

“Economic activity, public finances and the banking sector are all under growing strain,” the report said.

Gaza is world’s worst ever economic crisis, UN says

The top UN economic development agency has said Gaza is suffering the “world’s most severe economic crisis on record”, with nine in 10 businesses destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people unemployed.

Pedro Manuel Moreno, acting secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said the collapse of Gaza’s economy due to Israel’s military offensive had “wiped out decades of development and generated an acute economic crisis for its people”.

A report by the UN agency on Thursday said 92 percent of Gaza’s economic establishments have been damaged or destroyed. The daily per capita GDP is $0.58, the report said, while prices have jumped 274 percent since 2022.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses UNGA

A pre-recorded statement from Abbas is beginning.

‘Choice to invoke international law is peaceful, civilized’: Abbas

Abbas says the Palestinian people and their leadership should not be punished for demanding an end to the occupation or for turning to the UN, the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court.

“Our choice to invoke international law is a peaceful and civilized choice,” he said.

He also said that denying the Palestinian delegation access to the UN was a violation of the US’s obligation as the host country.

Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas opens speech denouncing US denial of visas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has begun his remarks by denouncing the United States decision to deny visas for Palestinian Authority officials for the second year in a row in the run-up to the annual high-level gathering in New York.

“We reject these unlawful, punitive measures and we reject the accusations and justifications on which they were based,” he said.

Abbas calls on US to lift restrictions on Palestinian delegation, return to dialogue

During his address to the UN General Assembly, Abbas said that “denying the Palestinian delegation access to the UN headquarters is a violation of the United States’ obligations as the host country”.

As such, he said that “we call upon the American administration to lift these sanctions and restrictions, return to dialogue and mutual respect, and work with us and with the international community in order to implement the two-state solution on the basis of international legitimacy and to establish peace rather than punishing the side that has chosen the path of international law, and political and diplomatic action, in order to guarantee its rights”.

Abbas says ‘ethnic cleansing’ threatening ‘very existence’ of Palestinians

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, settlement expansion is accelerating, Abbas said, while settler “terrorism” is escalating “under the protection of the occupying forces”.

Abbas denounced “land theft” and demolitions under a “system of laws, measures and practices all built on racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing and state terrorism”.

He warned that such policies went beyond destroying the two-state solution, threatening “the very existence of the Palestinian people”.

Israeli violence against Gaza has ‘created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe’

Speaking in a pre-recorded address to the UN General Assembly, Abbas said that the Israeli violence against Gaza has “created an unprecedented humanitarian catastroph”.

“In the Gaza Strip, our people are being subjected at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces to killing, destruction, starvation, and attempts at displacement”, he said, calling Israel’s assault “a genocidal war”.

He added that Israeli violence has “targeted all the basic necessities of life and the future of entire generations”

Abbas calls on international community to not remain silent on Israeli actions in Palestine

During his address to the UN General Assembly, Abbas pondered how long the international community will remain silent on Israeli actions throughout Palestine.

“How much longer will some states continue to remain silent on Israel or supply it with the weapons that it uses against our people? The world has witnessed the tremendous cost in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” asked Abbas.

“What is the international community waiting for in order to protect the Palestinian people, ensure their continued presence on their land, end the Israeli occupation, and implement the two-state solution on the basis of international legitimacy?”

Abbas continued, “This solution guarantees peace for all, instead of the threat emanating from Israeli extremism, which seeks to expand its colonial project towards establishing the so-called Greater Israel and completely erasing Palestinian presence.”

Abbas denounces Israel’s ongoing attacks on UNRWA

Ongoing Israeli attacks on UN headquarters and institutions in Jerusalem and in the West Bank are undermining UNRWA’s ability to carry out its duties, Abbas said in his remarks, referring to the UN’s agency for Palestinians.

“We call upon all states and international and regional organisations to continue supporting the work of UNRWA, for which there is no substitute so long as the issue of refugees remains unresolved,” he said.

Abbas calls on Trump to prevent annexation of Palestinian land, reject displacement

Abbas reminded the audience that the Gaza Board of Peace was established nearly a year ago, with only one year left on the designated transitional period.

“Therefore, we call for accelerating the implementation of the second phase [of the Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas] rather than wasting any more time,” said Abbas.

“Furthermore, we call upon President Trump to fulfil the commitments he made to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic states last September to prevent the annexation of Palestinian land and to reject displacement.”

Two US officials were pictured listening to Abbas’s pre-recorded video address.

 

Palestine seeks a ‘non-militarised state’

“We seek a democratic Palestinian state that respects the rule law and human rights”, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says.

“A non-militarized state, a non-militarized state”, he emphasized, adding, “that lives in security and peace alongside the state of Israel.”

Abbas said Palestinians will not leave ‘our homeland, accept displacement’

Addressing the young people of Palestine and those in the diaspora, Abbas told them that “you have painted the greatest picture of pride and dignity by holding steadfastly onto your land, your unity and your legitimate rights”.

“We will not leave our homeland. We will not accept displacement. And we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf. We decide for ourselves.”

Concluding his address, Abbas said “we will extend our hands to a peace based on international legitimacy, so that our freedom and independence can be achieved, and so that everyone in the region may live in security, peace and good neighborliness”.

Abbas calls for security for Palestinians, Israelis alike

“We do not want a new process for managing the conflict, while the face of the land changes every day,” Abbas told UNGA. “We want a process that puts an end to occupation and guarantees freedom and self-determination for Palestinians, a process that guarantees also security and peace for Israelis and the countries of the region.”

His vision for peace was that of a “Palestinian people remaining on its land and determining a future for itself” and a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel that paves the way to “regional integration, cooperation, prosperity and security for everyone”.

No officials from the Israeli delegation were pictured sitting in the General Assembly while Abbas delivered his address.

Abbas calls for the reunification of the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank under ‘one law’

The Palestinian president warned against a transitional period becoming a “permanent or open-ended situation without any clear time bound policial horizon.”

“Rather, it must lead to the reunification of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the authority of the State of Palestine, in accordance with the principle of one state, one government, one law, and one legitimate entity authorized to bear arms,” Abbas said.

Palestinians question UN’s role as Israeli settlement expansion continues

As UN leaders meet in New York, Israeli forces have shut an UNRWA school and seized its headquarters in East Jerusalem, defying UN protections.

Colonist numbers in the occupied West Bank have surged from under 30,000 in 1980 to nearly 800,000 today, with the proposed E1 project threatening to split the territory in two and displace Bedouin communities.

Decades of UN resolutions, including a ruling by the International Court of Justice on the illegality of Israel’s occupation, remain unenforced.

Abbas appealed to the world as US, Israel not meeting obligations

Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, has told Al Jazeera that Abbas’ speech at the UN General Assembly sent out the message that “the world needs to intervene” on behalf of Palestinians.

Abbas stressed that while the Palestinian leadership has been meeting its obligations, the US and Israel were not. Meanwhile, “the international community is not doing enough to intervene on behalf of the Palestinians who are completely vulnerable to Israel and its machinations in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Rahman said.

“We’re seeing a push for the ethnic cleansing in both of those territories [so this] is a very desperate position,” the analyst continued. He added that he does not hold out much hope that the international community will act to increase pressure on Israel given its mild response so far.

High-level roundtable on early recovery in Gaza held on UNGA sidelines

A high-level roundtable on early recovery in Gaza has been held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

Qatar Minister of State for International Cooperation Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser al-Misnad said in a post on X that the meeting emphasized the need to fully implement the Gaza peace plan and to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.

The minister added that the roundtable also addressed the need for “a reliable path for the establishment of the independent Palestinian state”.

Netanyahu claims mass settler violence carried out by handful of ‘young juvenile delinquents’

In his address to UNGA, Netanyahu claimed that settler violence across the occupied West Bank is carried out by just a “handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who throw stones and chop down olive trees. Occasionally, they do fire up, they light some fires.”

Netanyahu claimed he doesn’t support their actions against Palestinians, saying, “I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism. We’re a country of law, so we put our Shin Bet [domestic security agency] on them.”

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and several international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, have stated that Israeli settler violence is a systemic, state-backed tool used to achieve broader territorial goals, rather than an isolated issue driven by a few “bad apples”.

Netanyahu then downplayed the number of victims of Israeli settler violence, saying, “The number of casualties a year – maybe two, three – in the total time that this is being discussed – maybe two or three dead, compared to the thousands of terrorist attacks against the peaceful settlers, honourable people, law-abiding people. What a distortion!”

According to B’Tselem, settler militias have killed at least 35 Palestinians since October 2023.

Hamas denounces Netanyahu’s speech as ‘rife with lies’

Hamas has denounced Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address at the UN General Assembly as “rife with lies”.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that Netanyahu’s “denial of the systematic genocide” is contradicted by UN reports.

“We warn against the occupation’s terrorist and criminal schemes in the occupied West Bank, as well as war criminal Netanyahu’s denial of the Palestinian people’s existence there and his legitimization of settler crimes against the local population,” Hamas said.

Netanyahu, in his speech, denied “accusations of genocide” and downplayed settler violence across the occupied West Bank.

Jordan’s foreign minister: Palestinian solution will not be resolved at our expense

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has rejected statements by Israeli officials that the Palestinian issue could be resolved at the expense of Jordan.

Speaking at a media event by the Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution at the United Nations, Safadi called the “frankly ridiculous indications” impossible and said that Jordan would prevent them “with all our capabilities.”

He said these recent statements by Israeli officials reflect a “methodology of war” aimed at ending the two-state solution.

He added that the unprecedented expansion of settlements is aimed at eliminating any remaining chance of a two-state solution. He singled out the planned E1 settlement that would sever the West Bank, which has also been rebuked by the UK.

US lawmakers also introduced legislation to sanction the proposed settlement yesterday.

West Bank

Israeli army, settlers continue to attack Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Azzun in the Qalqilya governorate of the occupied West Bank, with raids continuing overnight on Palestinian homes amid news of arrests and assaults, Wafa reports.

The news agency said the military fired sound grenades, tear gas and live ammunition during the incursions.

The army arrested a young man, identified by Wafa as Youssef Dina, after a special unit infiltrated Matar Street near the Qalandiya camp north of occupied East Jerusalem, it added.

Meanwhile, in the village of Atara north of Ramallah, Israeli settlers set fire to two vehicles belonging to Palestinian residents and sprayed hostile slogans.

Israeli military blows up Palestinian prisoner’s home in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have blown up the house of a Palestinian prisoner jailed for the last six months for allegedly killing an Israeli.

The Israeli army stormed the village of Beit Imrin, northwest of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank at dawn and surrounded the home of Dawas Hassoun, the official Wafa news agency cited local sources as saying.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces raided the Hassoun family home and forced its residents to leave.

Israel maintains a policy of demolishing the homes belonging to relatives of Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis, in an approach human rights groups have condemned as “collective punishment”.

Israeli forces storm West Bank town in early morning raid

Israeli occupation forces have stormed the West Bank town of Tammun, southeast of Tubas in the occupied territory, early today, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Forces raided the town with several military patrols and subsequently raided a number of residents’ homes, Wafa added.
 

‘They uprooted it all’: Israel bulldozes Palestinian-owned olive groves

Israeli army bulldozers have ploughed through rows of olive trees in a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, just as Palestinian farmers were preparing to begin their annual harvest, residents told the Reuters news agency.

Palestinian farmer and landowner Abd Alfattah Tamimi said the army had destroyed the olive trees planted on his family’s land as well as his neighbours’.

The demolition in the village of Deir Nidham started on Monday and continued on Tuesday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

“They don’t care about anyone, but God is up there, and we are steadfast here with our souls,” he said. “They are uprooting, and we will plant again with the help of God,” he said.

US senator co-leads bill to sanction firms backing Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank

US Senator Ruben Gallego says that he is co-leading a bill to impose sanctions on companies that help build Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.

Gallego said in a post on X that the legislation “sends a clear message to Netanyahu: the United States stands firmly behind a two-state solution as the only path to real peace and security for all”.

Gallego, who on August 28 led 29 senators in opposing Israel’s E1 plan for 1,234 new settlement homes, warned the construction of the Israeli settlements “would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank and threaten a viable Palestinian state”.

Norway to provide an additional $13 million in aid to Palestinians

Norway’s government ⁠has said it will give an additional 125 million ⁠Norwegian crowns ($13.17 million) in aid to the occupied ⁠Palestinian territories through the United Nations and the World Bank, including public sector budget ‌support, Reuters news agency reports.

Norway’s Foreign Minister ⁠Espen Barth Eide ⁠said in a statement the need for international support for Palestinians was “greater than ever”, and he criticised Israeli settlement ⁠activity in the occupied ⁠West Bank.

Norway recognised a Palestinian state in 2024 and chairs the international donor group for the Palestinians.

UK announces $116m aid package for Gaza and occupied West Bank

The United Kingdom has announced a $116.3m aid package for humanitarian relief and recovery in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, according to the Reuters news agency.

The funding would support the delivery of clean water, healthcare, sanitation and hygiene services, and waste management, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ‌said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The UK announcement comes as intensifying Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank and dire conditions in the Gaza Strip have dominated speeches made by international leaders at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly.

At the annual high-level assembly, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told delegates that the failure to deliver a two-state solution would undermine trust in politicians seeking to find a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.