🔴 Live: Security Council to vote on Palestinian state UN membership

2 years ago 166

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The United Nations Security Council will vote Thursday on the Palestinians' application to become a full UN member state, several diplomatic sources have told AFP. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates on the situation in the Middle East.

Issued on: 17/04/2024 - 05:37

2 min

UN Security Council in New York, April 5, 2024.

Summary:

Brussels was starting work on expanding sanctions against Iran after Tehran's attack on Israel, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned of further sanctions targeting Iran. She said Iran’s actions could cause global ‘economic spillovers’.
Israel says it will retaliate against Iran, despite the risks.
The United Nations Security Council will vote Thursday on the Palestinians' application to become a full UN member state.
The United Nations is appealing for $2.8 billion to provide desperately needed aid to 3 million Palestinians, stressing that tackling looming famine in war-torn Gaza doesn’t only require food but sanitation, water and health facilities.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday that an independent Palestinian state should be recognized as soon as possible.
At least 33,843 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,575 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

Yesterday's key developments:

Israel said that its strikes in south Lebanon killed two local Hezbollah commanders and another operative, with the Iran-backed group saying three of its members were killed as it launched rockets in retaliation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz urged countries to place sanctions on Iran's missile programme and proscribe its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has warned Israel it will face a "painful response" if it takes the "slightest action" in response to Tehran's weekend attack on Israel.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing towards action this week on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, unveiling an elaborate plan to break a package into separate votes to squeeze through the House's political divides on foreign policy.

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.

The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.

In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.

For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)