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Palestinian families streamed out of Gaza City on Sunday, some crammed into pick-up trucks, others on foot, as Israeli forces pressed their assault on the territory’s main urban centre.Parents carried their children while the elderly hobbled along, an AFP journalist reported.A man in a wheelchair and another on crutches were among the long line of people heading south under Israeli military orders.The military has issued multiple evacuation warnings for Gaza City, but many residents have told AFP they have nowhere else to go, noting that Israel has repeatedly struck the area in the south where it has urged people to move.The scenes of mass flight from Gaza City came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel in a show of support, despite an Israeli strike in Qatar this week.The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued on Sunday a warning to those in Gaza’s port area and Al-Rimal neighbourhood to evacuate immediately to a “humanitarian zone” in the south, where Gazans say there is no more space to pitch tents.He had on Saturday said more than 250,000 Gaza City residents had already fled, while Gaza’s civil defence agency said the figure was closer to 68,000.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.Panic and extreme fear’ -Prior to the latest assault, the United Nations had estimated that around a million people lived in and around the city, where it officially declared famine last month.AFP footage showed exhausted families moving along the coastal road near Nuseirat south of Gaza City, with their belongings stacked high in vehicles.In the city itself, “the bombardment hasn’t stopped since dawn,” said Umm Alaa Shaaban, 45, a resident of Tal al-Hawa district in Gaza City’s southwest.”We haven’t slept all night… The sounds of shelling and explosions have not stopped until now,” she told AFP.According to Shaaban, the Israeli air force “bombed many houses… we were terribly afraid — my children screamed in terror.”We don’t know where to go. The bombardment is everywhere.”Mohammed Ghazal, 32, who fled from Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood, also said the strikes were relentless.”We are living in a state of panic and extreme fear. The shelling hasn’t stopped since dawn, the explosions are intense and the shooting continuous,” he told AFP.”Israeli forces are using terrifying methods and escalating the bombardment to frighten us and force us to flee south.”In recent days, the Israeli military has targeted several high-rise buildings in Gaza City, saying they were being used by Hamas militants.On Sunday, it said it had struck another high-rise where Hamas had set up “observation posts to monitor the location of… troops in the area”.AFP also saw an Israeli leaflet dropped on residents, telling them they were in a “dangerous combat zone” — a message the military has repeated for weeks.Across the the Gaza Strip, Israeli strikes killed 23 people since dawn Sunday, according to the Gaza civil defence agency.

Nadeen Ayoub, the first Palestinian to compete in Miss Universe, will step onto the stage at the height of one of the most harrowing periods in her people’s history, determined to show they are more than headlines of war.”We’re more than our struggle and pain,” she told AFP in Dubai, where she is preparing to raise the Palestinian flag at the pageant in Thailand in November.”Right now, our people need a voice and we don’t want our identity to be erased,” she said, nearly two years into the Israel-Hamas war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.As Israel intensifies its onslaught, causing what the United Nations has called a famine in Gaza City and widespread destruction in the territory, Ayoub said she wanted to showcase her homeland’s rich heritage and beauty, to humanise a people long reduced to just their suffering.Palestinians are also “children who want to live, women who have dreams and aspirations,” said the beauty queen, her fair face framed by long dark brown hair.- ‘A voice’ -Ayoub lives between Ramallah, Amman, and Dubai — where she founded an organisation that trains content creators on sustainability and artificial intelligence.She grew up in the occupied West Bank, the United States and Canada. After earning degrees in English literature and psychology, she went on to teach and work for NGOs in the occupied territories.”My parents are both academics and they always told me to focus on my university (studies),” she said.But after modelling at a fashion show in Italy, people working in the industry encouraged her to look into competing in beauty pageants, so she launched a Miss Palestine franchise.”Something as simple as having a (Miss Palestine) organisation is difficult,” even though it is a given in other countries, she said.Part of the difficulty is that Palestinians are divided between the occupied West Bank, besieged Gaza and annexed East Jerusalem, while many are refugees in neighbouring countries, living abroad or in Israel.Though recognised by the vast majority of countries, some nations do not recognise a Palestinian state, making representation on a world stage an act of defiance for people like Ayoub.”(Palestine) is a country, it is a nation, I will be representing an actual country,” Ayoub insisted.Western frustration with Israel’s conduct in Gaza has pushed several countries, including Britain and France, to say they will recognise Palestinian statehood later this month.But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted this week “there will be no Palestinian state”, and last month Israel approved a major West Bank settlement that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future such state.- ‘Talk about Palestine’ -In 2022, the first Miss Palestine pageant was held online to allow for Palestinians scattered abroad, in Israel and in the territories to participate.As the first winner of the title, Ayoub has worked on the organisation’s philanthropic activities and competed in Miss Earth, an environmentally minded pageant, in 2022.But since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023 — triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians — she has not participated in any beauty pageants.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,756 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.Ayoub said she would take any opportunity to speak out for her people.”We must be present on every single international stage. Every single opportunity that we have to talk about Palestine, to show Palestine, we must take it,” she said.

Israeli military operations killed 50 people in Gaza on Friday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, as the army stepped up its attacks on Gaza City.Israel has said it intends to capture the territory’s largest urban centre, which it describes as one of the last strongholds of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.The United Nations and members of the international community have warned against the assault for fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza City, where the UN has declared a famine. Britain, France and Germany called in a joint statement for an “immediate” halt to the offensive, saying it was causing civilian casualties and destroying key infrastructure.Gaza’s civil defence agency said 35 people were killed in the city on Friday, along with another 15 in other parts of the territory.The Israeli military said it was continuing “its wide-scale strikes on terrorist infrastructure and high-rise structures” in Gaza City.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.Israel began targeting tall buildings in the area a week ago, saying they were being used by Hamas.It said Friday that it would “intensify the pace of targeted strikes” in order to disrupt Hamas and “reduce the threat to our troops as part of preparations for the next stages of the operation”.- Nothing but pieces -A single strike in the northwest of Gaza City killed 14 people, the civil defence said.”The majority of them are children and women,” relative Hazem al Sultan told AFP. “Only two bodies were intact, while the rest were body parts.”At the city’s Al-Shifa hospital, mourners prayed over the the dead wrapped in white shrouds, some of them the size of children.The military did not respond to a request for comment on the strike.While the army has issued multiple evacuation warnings for Gaza City, many residents have told AFP they have nowhere else to go, noting Israel has repeated struck the area in the south to which it has urged people to move.The UN estimates there were around one million people in and around Gaza City as of late August, and has warned that evacuating them all could have disastrous consequences.The army said it was taking steps to “increase the volume of aid entering into the humanitarian area” in the south in preparation for receiving displaced Gaza City residents.The main organisation representing the families of hostages taken during Hamas’s 2023 attack has also criticised the planned Gaza City offensive, saying Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the surviving captives in “life-threatening danger… without any clear purpose or strategic goal”.Of the 251 hostages seized during the Hamas assault, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,756 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the UN considers reliable.

The UN General Assembly voted Friday to back a resolution which seeks to breathe new life into the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine — without the involvement of Hamas.The text was adopted by 142 votes in favor, 10 against — including Israel and key ally the United States — and 12 abstentions. It clearly condemns Hamas and demands that it surrender its weapons.Although Israel has criticized UN bodies for nearly two years over their failure to condemn Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, the declaration, presented by France and Saudi Arabia, leaves no ambiguity.Formally called the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, the text states that “Hamas must free all hostages” and that the UN General Assembly condemns “the attacks committed by Hamas against civilians on the 7th of October.”It also 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.”The declaration, which was already endorsed by the Arab League and co-signed in July by 17 UN member states, including several Arab countries, also seeks to fully exclude Hamas from leadership in Gaza.”In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” the declaration states.Palestinian vice president Hussein al-Sheikh welcomed the decision, saying the resolution “expresses international willingness to support our people’s rights and constitutes an important step towards ending the occupation and achieving our independent state.”Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein meanwhile slammed the vote, saying in a post on X that Israel “utterly rejects” the declaration, calling it evidence that the General Assembly had become “a political circus detached from reality.”- ‘Shield’ against criticism -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 has promised to formally recognize the Palestinian state.”The fact that the General Assembly is finally backing a text that condemns Hamas directly is significant,” even if “Israelis will say it is far too little, far too late,” Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.”Now at least states supporting the Palestinians can rebuff Israeli accusations that they implicitly condone Hamas,” he said, adding that it “offers a shield against Israeli criticism.” In addition to Macron, several other leaders have announced their intent to formally recognize the Palestinian state during the UN summit.The gestures are seen as a means of increasing pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.The New York Declaration includes discussion of a “deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission” to the battered region under the mandate of the UN Security Council, aiming to support the Palestinian civilian population.Around three-quarters of the 193 UN member states recognize the Palestinian state proclaimed in 1988 by the exiled Palestinian leadership.However, two years of war have ravaged the Gaza Strip, in addition to expanded Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the stated desire by Israeli officials to annex the territory.That leaves many fearing that the existence of an independent Palestinian state will soon become impossible.”We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, may be prevented from visiting New York for the UN summit after US authorities said they would deny him a visa.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said Friday it was excluding French mining company Eramet from its portfolio, citing risks that the company was contributing to human rights violations and environmental damage at a nickel mine in Indonesia.Managed by the country’s central bank Norges Bank and fuelled by its vast energy revenues, the fund is the world’s …

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The Eurovision Song Contest will respect countries’ decisions on participating in next year’s competition, its chief said Friday, after several European broadcasters threatened a boycott if Israel takes part.During the past two editions of the competition, the event has been drawn into the controversy over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian activists protested in Malmo, Sweden in 2024 and in Basel, Switzerland last May over Israel’s participation in the contest.On Friday, the Dutch joined a growing list of European countries threatening to pull out of the 2026 contest in Vienna if Israel is permitted to take part again.Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS cited the “ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza”, in its statement announcing its decision.Its “participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will not be possible as long as Israel remains admitted by the EBU,” it said, referring to the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the event.”If the EBU decides not to admit Israel, AVROTROS will be happy to participate next year,” it added.Their announcement came after seven-time champions Ireland said on Thursday they would not take part alongside Israel.Back in May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Israel should be excluded in future.- ‘Understand the concerns’ -“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” Eurovision director Martin Green said in a statement sent to AFP.The organisation said in July it was launching a consultation with all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the song contest over the issue.It would discuss “how we manage participation, geopolitical tensions, and how other organisations have approached similar challenges”.Those consultations were still ongoing, Green said Friday.”Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm if they wish to take part in next year’s event in Vienna,” he said.”It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”Eurovision is the world’s largest live televised music event. This year’s edition in Basel drew in 166 million viewers across 37 countries.Austrian singer JJ won that competition, securing Austria the right to host the 2026 edition.- ‘Political instrument’ -In its statement Friday, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS linked its decision to Israel’s nearly two-year campaign in Gaza.That campaign has killed at least 64,656 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.AVROTROS denounced a “serious violation of press freedom” by the Israelis, pointing to “the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists”.And it accused Israel of “proven interference… during the last edition of the Song Contest”, in which it came in second, charging that the event had been “used as a political instrument.”This runs counter to the apolitical nature of the contest,” it added.Irish broadcaster RTE also said it felt “that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza”. Israel’s war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks inside Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will leave Saturday on a trip to Israel to offer support before French-led moves to recognize a Palestinian state, the State Department said.Rubio is going ahead with the visit despite President Donald Trump gently reprimanding Israel for a surprise attack on Hamas on Tuesday in Qatar, a key US partner.Rubio will speak to Israeli leaders about “our commitment to fight anti-Israel actions including unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state that rewards Hamas terrorism,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.Rubio will emphasize “the US commitment to Israeli security,” Pigott said.”He will also emphasize our shared goals: ensuring Hamas never rules over Gaza again and bringing all the hostages home,” he said, adding that Rubio will meet families of hostages.He said that Rubio would discuss Israel’s “operational goals and objectives” in its new offensive which includes a goal of seizing the already rubble-strewn territory’s main urban hub of Gaza City. The statement made no mention of the strikes in Qatar, although Rubio on Friday will meet in Washington with the Gulf state’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Israel on Tuesday carried out strikes on Hamas leadership in Qatar, which has served as a key intermediary with Hamas, whose leaders were gathering to discuss a new ceasefire proposal put forward by the Trump administration.Trump called the attack unfortunate and said that the United States found out too late to stop it.- Quiet on settlements -Trump has repeatedly offered strong backing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, doing away with most of the public concerns, however cautiously expressed, of his predecessor Joe Biden. The State Department did not immediately confirm reports that Rubio would take part in the inauguration of a new tunnel in Jerusalem’s Old City for visitors approaching the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, which is also sacred for Muslims as the Al-Aqsa compound.”Rubio’s visit is nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive part of Jerusalem’s Holy Basin, contradicting Washington’s long-standing position since 1967,” anti-settlement advocacy group Peace Now said in a statement.Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it and declared Jerusalem its indivisible capital, a step not recognized by most of the world. But Trump during his first term bucked the international consensus and moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.The Trump administration has declined to criticize ramped-up Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. Netanyahu vowed Thursday there would be no Palestinian state and “this place belongs to us” at a signing ceremony for a major settlement project. But Netanyahu has walked back from far-right calls for a wide annexation of the West Bank after warnings by the United Arab Emirates, which took the landmark step five years ago of normalizing with Israel.Israel launched an all-out offensive in Gaza in October 2023 following a massive attack launched from territory by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable. The UN has declared famine in parts of Gaza, which Israel contests.