Category World News

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution reviving a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, less than 24 hours after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would never be a Palestinian state.

The “New York Declaration”, which outlines “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution, was adopted on Friday by 142 votes in favour, 10 against – including Israel and key ally the United States – and 12 abstentions.

Presented by France and Saudi Arabia, the seven-page document calls for “collective action to end the war in Gaza, to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implementation of the Two-State solution”.

It also orders Palestinian group Hamas, which runs the government in Gaza, to “free all hostages”, stipulating that it must “end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority … in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State”.

Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Saudi-French efforts to create an “actionable plan” towards a two-state solution. The ministry also called for “activating all mechanisms to end the Israeli colonial occupation” and “achieve the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people”.

Attempt to ‘take negotiation process forward’

The UN’s ringing endorsement of the two-state solution came amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, one day after Netanyahu signed off on a settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible.

Reporting from New York, Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey said that the vote showed “an incredible amount of pushback from the international community”.

“This shows mounting concern over a lack of progress on … talks, and an attempt by the international community to take the negotiation process forward,” she said.

The vote precedes an upcoming UN summit co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris on September 22 in New York, in which French President Emmanuel Macron and several other leaders have promised to formally recognise the Palestinian state.

While 146 members of the UN already back a Palestinian state, another 10 or so, including France, Norway, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom are expected to join their ranks later this month.

“Crucially, European nations who have been more reluctant to do so under the pressure of the United States and Israel, [are] showing the concerns that the situation on the ground there is becoming all the more dire, no progress is being made,” said Al Jazeera’s Saloomey.

Israel derailing peace efforts

Israel rejected the declaration after the landmark vote, slamming it as “disgraceful”.

The vote has “proven how much the General Assembly is a political circus detached from reality”, said Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein in a post on X, criticising the resolution for not calling Hamas a “terrorist organisation”.

The vote took place in a week in which Israel has been on particularly bellicose form, dialling up regional tensions with a number of deadly strikes across the Middle East, targeting Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia and Qatar in parallel with its attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

On Thursday, UN Security Council members condemned Israel for its strike on lead mediator Qatar, which killed five members of Hamas in Doha, who were discussing a new deal proposed by US President Donald Trump.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who had flown in for the UNSC emergency session, had blasted Israel’s leaders as “arrogant”, adding that the timing of the attacks during mediation efforts showed that the country intended to derail them.

As the UN voted on Friday to advance the two-state solution, people in the Gaza Strip continued to endure heavy artillery fire and bombing from Israeli forces, with Friday’s death toll hitting 59 just after the results were announced.

The Israeli army said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City this week as part of its takeover plan, targeting more than 500 sites. It said it would “continue to intensify the pace of strikes in a focused manner … with the aim of hitting Hamas’ infrastructure”.

Israel has attacked a school in the Al Shati refugee camp that was a makeshift shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.

Israeli air and artillery fire continue to bombard Gaza, killing at least 59 people on Friday, including 14 members of the same family.

Among those, 42 people were killed in Gaza City and the north of the besieged territory, according to medical sources.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said it was another “sleepless night” in the area.

“Israeli forces are using remotely operated explosive devices in neighbourhoods, coupled with heavy air and artillery attacks covering much of the eastern part of Gaza City,” he reported.

“The Israeli military is also using the intimidating tactic of illuminating the skies above Gaza City. For the second night in a row, they used flare bombs, creating fear among displaced people already forced to seek shelter anywhere they can find it.”

The 14 members of the same family – the Sultan family – who were killed, also died in Gaza City in a single Israeli attack on their home in the at-Twam area.

Palestinian group Hamas condemned Friday’s air raids and the strike on the Sultans, accusing Israel of waging a campaign of “terror and organised war crimes” through the destruction of residential towers and targeting of civilians, saying such actions are in violation of international law.

It also decried continued global “inaction and complicity”, saying it is only emboldening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to intensify genocide and forced displacement against Palestinians.

In Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood, Israeli drone fire killed a child and wounded others, a source at the nearby al-Ahli Hospital told Al Jazeera.

Elsewhere, Israeli attacks destroyed a school located in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.

“Many people had taken refuge in it, but have now been forced back into the streets one more time,” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud added.

Meanwhile, in western Gaza City, an Israeli attack targeted a cluster of residences, including a residential tower across the street from a UNRWA medical facility, Mahmoud reported.

“As far as we know, the tower is still standing, though it sustained a great deal of damage. But the cluster of homes was completely destroyed.”

In a statement on X on Friday, the Israeli military said it struck 500 targets in Gaza City this week, as it advances an assault to forcibly displace about one million residents and seize control of the area.

Israel’s security cabinet in August approved a plan by Netanyahu for the military occupation of Gaza City, which has displaced tens of thousands of people.

However, Gaza’s Government Media Office on Friday said more than 1.3 million Palestinians, including 350,000 children, remain in Gaza City and the north, despite Israel’s relentless bombardment and forced evacuation threats.

‘This is not life’

As Israel pushes to displace residents of Gaza City to the south of the enclave, Palestinians have been saying that nowhere is safe in the territory.

Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into makeshift tents in the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, designated by Israel as a so-called “humanitarian zone”, which lacks water access and sanitation, among other amenities.

“This is not life,” Shade al-Wawi, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera from al-Mawasi. “We cannot do it any more.”

“We are smelling dust, and with it, smelling grief and death,” he said.

In less than a month, more than 70,000 people have made the arduous journey from northern to southern Gaza following Israel’s move to forcibly evacuate Palestinians from “combat zones”, according to UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram.

“This is already an incredibly crowded area, with hundreds of thousands of people here, with not enough services or supplies to meet their needs – let alone the influx of people coming from the north,” he said of al-Mawasi.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from al-Mawasi, said Palestinians there were facing a “desperate reality”.

“Families are told to come here, but are turning back because there are no spaces left for them to ensure a dignified life, which has been stripped away by Israel’s repeated evacuation orders and mass bombing,” he reported.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, according to local health authorities, caused a hunger crisis and wider humanitarian disaster, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

Israel releases Gaza prisoners

Separately on Friday, 13 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza were released by Israel after months of detention under what medical and local sources described as harsh and degrading conditions, Anadolu news agency reported.

The detainees were freed at the Kissufim crossing east of central Gaza and immediately transferred by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) vehicles to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah due to their deteriorating health.

Medical personnel said the men arrived in frail condition, suffering from malnutrition and physical injuries consistent with abuse during captivity.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a nongovernmental group, has said thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been swept up in mass arrests since Israel’s offensive began on October 7, 2023, many subjected to forced disappearances and prolonged incommunicado detention.

Qatari PM to meet Trump

As conditions deteriorate on the ground, the UN General Assembly on Friday voted overwhelmingly to endorse a declaration on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

Separately, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is in New York meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly President Donald Trump, days after US ally Israel attacked and killed Hamas members in Doha.

The attack on Tuesday was widely condemned in the Middle East and by the UN Security Council as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge, and derail efforts to broker a truce in Gaza.

Who: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka
What: Asia Cup T20 Group B match
Where: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
When: Saturday, September 13 at 6:30pm (14:30 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 3:30pm (11:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

The first crunch game of the 2025 Asia Cup comes in Group B with six-time winners Sri Lanka taking on a Bangladesh side that will very much fancy their chances in a game that is likely to go a long way to deciding the fate of the tough group.

With Afghanistan already up and running in the four-team group with their win against Hong Kong, who Bangladesh also beat in their group opener, Sri Lanka will be feeling the pressure to get on the board in their first outing.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at a battle between two sides hoping to lift the trophy following the September 28 final.

What is Bangladesh’s T20 form coming into the game?

A 33-ball half-century from captain Litton Das handed Bangladesh an opening win in the Asia Cup on Thursday.

Bangladesh cruised to 144-3 for a seven-wicket victory after Hong Kong, which lost to Afghanistan in its opening game, made 143-7 after being put in.

Litton made a watchful start after Parvez Hossain Emon (19) was deceived by Ayush Shukla’s slower ball and was caught at deep mid-wicket in the third over.

Hong Kong struck once more inside the powerplay when Nizakat Khan ran back from mid-off and held onto a catch over his shoulders to dismiss Tanzid Hasan, who struggled to score 14 off 18 balls with only one boundary.

But Litton and Towhid Hridoy (35 not out) ensured Hong Kong did not get a sniff to repeat its historic win against Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup in 2014.

“Very important to win the first game,” Litton said. “Last couple of series, we have played good cricket, but in the Asia Cup, a little bit of pressure comes automatically.”

Bangladesh had beaten both Pakistan and Sri Lanka 2-1 in their last two bilateral series.

What is Sri Lanka’s T20 form like?

An unbeaten 73 from Kamil Mishara led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Harare last Sunday to seal a 2-1 win in their Twenty20 series to warm up for the Asia Cup.

Put in to bat after losing the toss, Zimbabwe made 191-8, but Sri Lanka cruised to the target with 14 balls to spare.

Mishara and Kusal Perera put on 117 runs in an unbeaten third-wicket stand as Sri Lanka completed a white-ball double, having won the preceding one-day international series against Zimbabwe 2-0.

Having scored just 35 runs in four previous T20I innings, 24-year-old Mishara made his mark with a match-winning knock, hitting three sixes and six fours from the 43 balls he faced.

“It is a privilege to win a game for my country, I just feel very good,” said Mishara.

“There was pressure, of course, but the coaching staff just told me to play my normal game. I just wanted to get into my rhythm and then played my normal game.”

On top of the 2-1 series defeat by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka lost their previous T20 series 2-1 to their hosts, New Zealand, in December and January.

What happened the last time Bangladesh played Sri Lanka?

Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets to seal their three-game T20 bilateral series earlier this year.

Having won the toss in Colombo, Sri Lanka were restricted to 132-7 with opener Pathum Nissanka top scoring with 46 off 39 balls for the hosts.

Only two other batters made it to 20, however, with Dasun Shanaka coming in at seven and hitting 35 off 25 to top up the modest total.

Shak Mahedi Hasan claimed 4-11 off his four overs for Bangladesh before Tanzid Hasan’s unbeaten 73 off 47 made short work of the chase.

What is Bangladesh’s Asia Cup record?

Bangladesh have yet to win the Asia Cup, but with each tournament that passes, the experience grows, and with it the expectation that they will soon hold aloft the trophy.

They have been runners-up on three occasions, the last being the 2018 final, when they were defeated by India by three wickets.

It was Bangladesh’s third appearance in four finals, with India also claiming victory in the 2016 final and Pakistan beating them in 2012.

What is Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup record?

Sri Lanka has claimed six Asia Cup titles already. The islanders last lifted the trophy in 2022, beating Pakistan on home soil by 23 runs in the final.

Their first victory came in the second edition, in 1986, when they also beat Pakistan.

Between 1997 and 2008, Sri Lanka won three out of four editions, and were the defeated finalists when Pakistan claimed the title in 2000.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka team news

After their opening win, Bangladesh look set to be unchanged for the crunch second match in the group.

Janith Liyanage, meantime, was a late addition to the Sri Lanka squad for the Asia Cup. The seam bowling all-rounder’s addition to the squad means the Sri Lankans have a 17-strong group for the tournament.

Sri Lanka chopped and changed their way through the bilateral series against Zimbabwe, with Nuwanidu Fernando replaced for the final match by Kusal Perera.

Kamil Mishara was not selected for the first match of the three-game series, with the former two both playing, but played both the second and third games of the series.

Maheesh Theekshana also dropped out of the side from the second match to be replaced by Matheesha Pathirana.

Nuwan Thushara, like Theekshana, played the first match of the series, only to be replaced by Binura Fernando for the final two games.

Predicted Bangladesh lineup

Litton Das (c & w), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed

Predicted Sri Lanka lineup

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