Live, Gaza war: UN calls on world leaders to show 'political courage' to save the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine

"A missile fired from Yemen was intercepted by [the air force] before it could even enter Israeli airspace," announced a brief statement from the Israeli army on Tuesday evening, specifying that "the warning sirens were not triggered."

The two-state solution, a "central issue" for peace in the entire region, "is close to the point of no return," Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday, referring to Israeli military operations in Gaza - where the situation has gone from "bad, to worse, to unimaginable" - but also in the occupied West Bank.

But "the world cannot afford to watch the two-state solution disappear," he argued, calling on states to take "irreversible steps" to implement it "before it is too late."

"In this time of turmoil and transition for the region, member states must explain in detail how they want the commitment and promise of the two-state solution to become a reality. This is no longer the time for ceremonies of support, checking a box and moving on," he stressed, emphasizing in this context the importance of the international conference on this issue organized by the UN General Assembly in June.

"Given the facts on the ground, the prospect of a Palestinian state must be protected," argued French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, whose country will co-chair the conference with Saudi Arabia. "Our objective is clear: to advance the recognition of Palestine and the normalization of relations with Israel in parallel," he added.

"In the name of the fallen and in their honor, we will continue our mission until victory, including the return of all our hostages" still held in Palestinian territory since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday at the start of the annual commemorations for soldiers who fell in defense of Israel.

"The lifeblood of our people will triumph over the cursed murderers who attacked us with appalling cruelty," the Israeli prime minister added in a video released by his office.

"Hamas underestimated our determination to bring back the hostages and defeat it," said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. "These two missions are linked. We will continue and strengthen our efforts until both are accomplished," he said at the official ceremony in Jerusalem opening the commemorations.

The UN Human Rights Office announced Monday that bakeries in the Gaza Strip had stopped operating as flour and fuel ran out, while remaining food stocks were rapidly dwindling.

Turk also highlighted that Israel's alleged plan to declare the Rafah governorate, in the far south of the Palestinian territory, a new "humanitarian zone" would force people to go there to receive food and other aid.

"Such a plan will almost certainly mean that large areas of Gaza and people who cannot move easily, including the disabled, the sick or injured, and women who support entire families, will be forced to go without food," he said.

Between March 18 and April 27, the UN Human Rights Office also said it had recorded 259 attacks on residential buildings and 99 on tents housing internally displaced people, most of which resulted in deaths.

"Mr. President, you succeeded where many thought it was impossible. You made possible a deal that brought back 38 hostages, including me," implored Naama Levy, who was captured on October 7, 2023. She says she was treated by Hamas "not like a human being, but like a trophy."

On Monday, ^Ms. Levy spoke with Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli; Iair Horn, whose brother Eitan is still being held hostage; Omer Shem Tov; and Doron Steinbrecher at a press briefing in Tel Aviv to mark Donald Trump's first 100 days as president.

“Several weeks after returning home, on March 6, I had the honor of meeting with President Trump at the White House. He greeted me sincerely and warmly, and promised that he would not rest until every hostage was freed,” Naama Levy said.

Mr. Siegel, a US-born Israeli, also thanked Mr. Trump for his release. The US administration must "apply pressure, restart negotiations immediately and get a deal done now, before it's too late," he added.

Also on Monday, the family of 24-year-old hostage Alon Ohel proposed a plan that would see the release of the injured hostages in exchange for the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza. "Alon is injured. He lost sight in one eye, and today we know there is a possibility of saving his other eye," said his father, Kobi.

"Concerted international efforts must be made to prevent this humanitarian catastrophe from reaching a new, unprecedented level," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged in a statement on Tuesday.

"Israel appears to be inflicting living conditions on Palestinians in Gaza that are increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group in Gaza," Türk added.

"Any use of starvation against the civilian population as a method of warfare constitutes a war crime, as does any form of collective punishment," the High Commissioner insisted in his statement.

"The occupation forces have just released medic Asaad Al-Nsasrah, who was arrested on March 23, 2025, while carrying out his humanitarian duty during the massacre of medical teams" in the Rafah region, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced in a statement Tuesday. The shooting left 15 medics dead.

"The radical anti-Israeli organization Amnesty has, once again, chosen to publish baseless lies (...) " , wrote the Israeli Foreign Ministry in a message to Agence France-Presse, following the publication of the organization's annual report , in which it denounces "a live genocide" in the Gaza Strip.

Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein added that Israel is "fighting to defend itself against Hamas." It was Hamas that called for "genocide against Israel," he charged. "It is doing everything in its power to do so - the atrocities of October 7 are proof of that," Marmorstein said.

According to him, "Israel exclusively targets terrorists and never civilians. Hamas, for its part, deliberately targets Israeli civilians and hides among Palestinian civilians, stealing humanitarian aid intended for the people of Gaza and causing suffering to both Palestinians and Israelis," the spokesperson continued.

He also rejected Amnesty International's accusation that Israel uses "apartheid" methods in the occupied West Bank.

"Amnesty is spreading completely unfounded lies. All of Israel's actions in the West Bank serve to prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians," Marmorstein said, accusing Amnesty International of not sticking to the facts.

The bodies of 51 people, including one who was pulled from the rubble, and 113 wounded people were taken to hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the past day, the Hamas-run enclave's health ministry reported on Tuesday , bringing the death toll to 52,365 and 117,905 wounded since October 7, 2023. Since the ceasefire broke down on March 18, the death toll has risen to 2,273 and 5,864 wounded, the ministry added.

Israeli airstrikes have killed five people and injured around 30 others in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFa reported , citing medical sources. The agency also reported air raids in the nearby town of Rafah and artillery fire in the center of the enclave.

"Since 7 October 2023, when Hamas committed terrible crimes against citizens of Israel and other countries and took more than 250 people hostage, the world has been watching genocide unfold live on its screens," writes Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, in the preface to the organization's annual report .

"States watched helplessly as Israel killed thousands of Palestinians, slaughtering entire families spanning generations, and destroying homes, livelihoods, hospitals and schools," she continued.

"In 2024, Israel and its powerful allies, foremost among them the United States, pretended that international law did not apply to them, or acted as if it did, choosing to ignore the injunctions of the International Court of Justice and the decisions of the International Criminal Court," adds the former special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

More than 50 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been detained and mistreated by Israeli authorities since October 7, 2023, Philippe Lazzarini, the agency's commissioner-general, said on X.

"They were treated in the most shocking and inhumane manner. They reported being beaten and used as human shields. They were subjected to sleep deprivation, humiliation, physical threats to themselves and their families, and dog attacks. Many were forced to confess," he continued, denouncing the situation as "scandalous."

"Aid workers are not targets. Their suffering must not be ignored. Justice must be done and those responsible for the crimes and violations of international law committed in the Gaza Strip must be held accountable," added Mr. Lazzarini.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, the internal security service , announced that they had killed, on Thursday, Ali Nadal Hassani Tserfiti, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the Gaza Strip, as well as two members of Hamas.

They are Said Abu Hasnan, a member of the Deir Al-Balah Brigade, who participated in the massacre at Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023, and Mustafa Al-Mutawwak, who served in Jabaliya, they said.

The Palestinian Civil Defense reported four deaths in an Israeli strike on displaced people's tents in the southern Gaza Strip overnight Monday to Tuesday.

The organization added that it was no longer operating more than four of its twelve vehicles in the south of the territory due to a lack of fuel, hampering its operations. It also reiterated "its urgent call" to the UN and international organizations to "intervene immediately to open the crossing points into Gaza."

Amnesty International published its annual report on human rights around the world on Tuesday. In its preface, Agnès Callamard, the organization's Secretary General, discussed the situation in Gaza.

"Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas committed terrible crimes against Israeli citizens and took more than 250 people hostage, the world has been watching genocide unfold live on its screens. States have watched helplessly as Israel killed thousands of Palestinians, slaughtered entire families spanning generations, and destroyed homes, livelihoods, hospitals, and schools," she wrote.

In the Middle East section of the report, Amnesty reiterates its accusations of "genocide," which were already made at the end of 2024 and categorically rejected by the Israeli authorities. "Amnesty International's research has shown that Israel has committed acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian population of Gaza, thereby committing genocide," the organization writes.

The report cites in particular "homicides" , "serious attacks on the physical or mental integrity of civilians" , "displacement and enforced disappearances" , the "deliberate imposition of living conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of these people" .

The Amnesty report also highlights that nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, or 90% of Gaza's population, have been displaced since the start of the war, and accuses Israel of having "deliberately provoked an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."

Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad is due to meet with Israeli negotiators in Cairo on Monday evening for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Egyptian state media Al-Qahera News , which is said to be close to Egyptian intelligence services.

According to Al-Qahera News, the meeting with the Israeli delegation, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, comes several days after a Hamas delegation visited the Egyptian capital to discuss a possible ceasefire.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his "deep concern" about the situation in the West Bank on Monday during a meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa at Downing Street.

According to a Downing Street report, Keir Starmer also affirmed the UK's " support" for the Palestinian Authority's reform program, which he deemed "crucial," in light of the Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza adopted in March by the leaders of the Arab League countries. This plan, proposed by Egypt and in contrast to that of US President Donald Trump, notably envisages that the Gaza Strip will be administered for a transitional period by a committee of Palestinian technocrats, before the Palestinian Authority regains control.

Keir Starmer, who announced a £101 million (€119 million) package for the occupied Palestinian territories, and Mohammad Mustafa "agreed (...) that Hamas should play no role in the governance of the Gaza Strip," with a view to a two-state solution, Downing Street further stressed.

The situation "reminds us that we have to address the root cause of all this, which is the failure to implement a two-state solution," the Palestinian prime minister said at the start of the meeting. Keir Starmer also said that London "will continue to press" for a return to the ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to Downing Street.