Israel's increasingly isolated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, defending his decision to attack Iran as an easy one.
Hamas said it was ready to move forward on a Gaza peace agreement, while a top European Union official said only a small amount of the funds needed to rebuild the Gaza Strip has been collected.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage
of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
Netanyahu told world leaders that attacking Iran “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make” and denounced as “moral cowards” a mass of delegates who walked out of the U.N. General Assembly when he took the podium to speak.
As Netanyahu walked to the rostrum, a mix of cheers, boos and mass walkouts erupted. Scores of delegates trooped out and a majority of seats sat empty afterward.
“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.
The Palestinian Mission to the U.N. had urged delegations to walk out during the speech.
A Hamas spokesman said the group is ready to move forward with the next steps of a peace agreement, after Trump’s Board of Peace unveiled a six-month, $2.45-billion plan for Gaza's reconstruction.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem expressed the Palestinian militant group’s “full readiness to implement the Board of Peace’s roadmap” but made no mention of any disarmament plans.
Israel has said it will not allow reconstruction until Hamas disarms.
Last year, Hamas agreed to a plan that includes disarmament but has since traded accusations with Israel of ceasefire violations and has accused Israel of violating the agreement by continuing to occupy much of Gaza.
A top EU official said only 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) has been raised of the 71 billion euros ($80.8 billion) that the United Nations, the World Bank and the 27-nation European Union estimate are needed to rebuild Gaza.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones on Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jazan province.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels targeted operations rooms, command centers, weapons depots and other Saudi military sites. He didn’t say when the attacks took place.
The Associated Press could not independently confirm the Houthi claims.
A Saudi military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said six ballistic missiles targeting Saudi Arabia ’s Red Sea port of Yanbu and southwestern city of Taif were intercepted.
At the U.N., Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said he wasn't worried about a Houthi takeover of parts of Yemen, and that the government is “very capable of defending the territory it controls.”
Asked about the U.S. decision to not get militarily involved against the Houthis, the prince deflected. He also refused to say whether Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords, saying that the full implementation of the Gaza peace plan must happen before anything else.
The U.N. pleaded for the fast delivery of humanitarian aid in Yemen as fighting between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces intensifies an already dire humanitarian situation.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said people fleeing violence need access to food, shelter and healthcare. Ground fighting, artillery and aerial strikes have killed and wounded at least 125 civilians since the beginning of August. Türk also called for the release of 73 U.N. staffers detained by the Houthis in the past few years.
In Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Hospital said a man was killed when a car was hit on Thursday in Deir al Balah. There were also injuries in strikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, the hospital said.
The Israeli military said it struck operatives in both places and would provide more information later.
A moderate earthquake shook southeast Turkey and parts of Syria on Thursday, sending people rushing out of buildings in panic. There were no immediate reports of any damage.
The magnitude 5.4 quake was centered in Sanliurfa province, near the border with Syria, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces, including Sanliurfa. Another 6,000 people were killed in Syria.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
