Israel security cabinet meets to discuss response to countries set to recognize Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security cabinet meeting Thursday focusing on Israel's response to several countries saying they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this month, Israeli sources told ABC News.
France and Canada have announced they plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly. The United Kingdom said it would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel refuses to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Belgium has also said it would recognize a Palestinian state provided all the hostages held by Hamas are returned and that Hamas is removed from political power across the Gaza Strip.
A planned discussion Thursday on annexing parts of the West Bank has been dropped from the Israeli security cabinet's agenda, according to sources. Earlier this week, some far-right members of Netanyahu's ruling coalition vowed to push through annexation plans, calling it the best way to prevent a Palestinian state.
A top Emirati official publicly warned that an Israeli decision to annex the West Bank would cross a "red line" and end regional integration efforts. The official implied the United Arab Emirates could pull out of the Abraham Accords, a deal it signed in 2020 to normalize relations with Israel.
Israel doesn't want to do anything to harm the Abraham Accords, two Israeli sources told ABC News, indicating the UAE's warnings were taken seriously in Jerusalem.
Israel Defense Forces troops continue their operations on the outskirts of Gaza City, with airstrikes overnight leading to more deaths and evacuations. At least 84 people were killed and more than 300 were injured across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours as of Thursday morning local time, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
Israel holds "40% of Gaza City," IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said during a press conference Thursday.
"Our forces are maneuvering in Gaza City -- in the Zeitoun neighborhood and on the outskirts of the northern Sheik Radwan neighborhood," Defrin said in Hebrew.
While thousands of people have fled Gaza City, many still remain reluctant to move to the crowded areas the Israeli military has designated for them in the south of the strip. The United Nations estimates some 800,000 people are still living in Gaza City.
More than 90,000 people have been displaced inside of Gaza between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31, an update from the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management committee and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday.
Hospitals across the Gaza Strip recorded three more deaths due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Thursday. At least 370 have died due to malnutrition since Oct. 7, 2023, including 131 children, the agency said.
Also on Thursday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
The pope has supported the last two remaining churches in Gaza City whose nuns and clergy said they would remain in the city to care for the hundreds of civilians sheltering in the buildings. The pope has also called for an end to the war in Gaza.
