What we covered here
• Scores of delegates walked out in protest before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech today at the UN General Assembly. The prime minister vowed to “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in Gaza and slammed other nations for recognizing Palestinian statehood.
• Netanyahu will meet Monday with US President Donald Trump, who told reporters today that negotiators are “very close” on striking a deal to end the war in Gaza and return remaining hostages held by Hamas.
• Meanwhile, Palestinians tell CNN it feels like “the war has started all over again” with Israel’s intensifying assault in northern Gaza and Gaza City. A major health care NGO says it has been forced to pull out of the city for safety.
We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Netanyahu’s combative UN address here, or scroll through the posts below for more on the war in Gaza.
Catch up: Netanyahu’s UN speech, a proposed peace plan and an escalating assault in Gaza
Scores of delegates walked out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly this morning as the war in Gaza intensifies.
Here’s what to know today:
- Netanyahu: After the delegates walked out, the Israeli prime minister gave a speech touting his country’s operations against Iran and its proxies in the Middle East and vowed to “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in Gaza. He wore a QR code on his jacket linking to a website detailing atrocities from the October 7 attack.
- Speakers on the border: Netanyahu said he “surrounded Gaza with massive loudspeakers” to broadcast his address. He spoke directly to Hamas leaders in the speech, telling them to release the remaining hostages or face death. The families of Israeli hostages had spoken out against the move to broadcast the speech.
- To other word leaders: Netanyahu slammed international criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and accused world leaders of caving in to “biased media, radical Islamist constituencies and anti-semitic mobs.” Netanyahu also called other countries’ recognition of a Palestinian state “insane.”
- Reaction to the speech: The head of Israel’s opposition criticized Netanyahu’s speech, which featured a “pop quiz” and other visual aids, as filled with “gimmicks.” Hamas said the scores of delegates who walked out before the speech showcased Israel’s “isolation.” There were also multiple rallies in New York City as Netanyahu gave his address.
- Dire situation in Gaza: Several Palestinians spoke to CNN about thunderous strikes and shelling that pounded Gaza City and northern Gaza overnight, days after Israel launched a ground assault on the largest city in the enclave. “It feels as if the war has started all over again,” Sheikh Radwan resident Ismail Zayda told CNN.
- Possible peace deal: Meantime, US President Donald Trump repeated his claim this morning that a Gaza ceasefire deal is “very close.” On the sidelines of the UNGA, Trump and top US officials proposed a 21-point peace plan to end the war.
- More on Trump and the UNGA: A top UN spokesperson says the US is “welcome to join” an investigation into a malfunctioning escalator during the president’s appearance Tuesday. Trump has claimed without providing evidence that the escalator and other technical mishaps were an act of “sabotage.”
CNN’s Sana Noor Haq, Lauren Kent, Tal Shalev, Kevin Liptak, Abeer Salman, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Ibrahim Dahman, Eyad Kourdi and Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.
Major health care NGO leaves Gaza City amid Israeli offensive
Major health care NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is leaving Gaza City as Israel intensifies its offensive there.
The group, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said on Friday that the military offensive is putting its staff and patients at risk, forcing them to suspend their crucial medical services in the area.
Health care facilities throughout the enclave are severely limited in their abilities to treat patients due to Israel’s airstrikes and tight control over the flow of medical and food aid, leading to immense strain on medical personnel.
MSF said it carried out more than 3,600 consultations and treated more than 1,600 people with malnutrition just last week. The organization also treats trauma injuries, burns, and treats pregnant women.
“Although we have been forced to suspend our activities in Gaza City, we aim to continue supporting key services in Ministry of Health facilities, including Al-Helou and Al-Shifa hospitals, while they continue to function,” the MSF said in its statement.
Trump administration's proposed Gaza peace plan calls for all hostages to be released within 48 hours, source says
The Trump administration’s proposed 21-point Gaza peace plan calls for all of the hostages to be released within 48 hours of agreement in exchange for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, according to a source familiar with the proposal that was shared with Arab leaders earlier this week.
It is unclear if Hamas has been presented with the proposal, which could have undergone revisions in subsequent days and may still be tweaked. It would likely be relayed through the Qataris to what remains of their negotiating team in Doha.
President Donald Trump has voiced optimism about resolving the conflict, saying today they’re “very close” to a deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, however, vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.
Arab leaders are broadly on board with the proposal, although they don’t think it’s perfect. They want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible, the source said.
Here are some of the details, according to the source familiar:
- There is not a timeline associated with the withdrawal of Israeli forces in this version of the plan.
- This version specifically says Israel will not attack Qatar again.
- It also says there cannot be forced displacement from Gaza.
- It calls for Hamas to have no future role in governance in Gaza.
- The plan calls for two levels of interim governance: an overarching international body and a Palestinian committee. There is no timeline for an interim government to phase leadership over to the Palestinian Authority.
- The proposal references a UN role in providing humanitarian support and makes no mention of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
- It does not say the US would support a Palestinian state, rather it recognizes that this is an aspiration of Palestinians.
Palestinians under Israel's assault in northern Gaza haunted by cries of fellow residents
Crushed concrete, plastic tents buried in sand, and craters of blown-out buildings eclipse the skyline of Sheikh Radwan in northern Gaza.
In videos a resident shared with CNN today, children can be heard playing in the street. The buzz of Israeli drones cuts through overhead.
Several Palestinians recalled thunderous strikes and shelling pounding parts of Gaza City overnight, days after Israel launched a ground assault on the largest city in the enclave. Some say they are haunted by the cries of Palestinians nearby.
“We hear nothing but bombing, gunfire, ambulance sirens, and the voices of citizens crying and shouting out of despair,” said Asmaa Ziyad, a 35-year-old woman from Al-Sahaba, Gaza City.
More than 250,000 people have been forced to flee Gaza City in the past month alone, the UN reported on September 19. But Nael Abu Rahma, who is displaced there with elderly loved ones and eight children, warned his family is trapped because they cannot afford to flee south.
“We have no money, no tent,” the 45-year-old Rahma said. “Our suffering is something the entire world can see.”
Zayda, the displaced Sheikh Radwan resident whose comments we shared earlier in this post, provided this view of his surroundings from the port area:
Multiple protests were happening in New York as Netanyahu was speaking at the UN
There were multiple rallies happening in New York City this morning as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations.
Families of Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza were protesting outside the UN building. “Families of hostages and survivors of captivity gathered outside UN headquarters ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address, demanding an immediate deal to secure the release of all 48 hostages and end the war,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a post on X.
Source: Reuters
There was another big rally in Times Square organized by CODEPINK, where big crowds marched to the UN, chanting, “Free, free Palestine.”
Source: Reuters
Another protest unfolded outside the News Corp. Building early in the morning. Organized by UnXeptable, a grassroots movement of Israeli-Americans and American Jews, demonstrators demanded an end to the war.
Walkout ahead of Netanyahu’s UNGA speech reveals Israel’s isolation, Hamas says
Hamas has said that the scores of delegates who walked out of the UN General Assembly in New York before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech today showcased Israel’s “isolation” due to the war in Gaza.
“The interruption of Netanyahu’s speech is one of the manifestations of ‘Israel’s’ isolation and the results of the genocide war,” Taher Al-Nunu, media adviser to the head of the political bureau of Hamas, said in a statement.
Al-Nanu also said that the decision to broadcast the speech over loudspeakers on the border with Gaza “reflects his sadism.”
“The Palestinian state will be established by Palestinian, Arab, and international will, regardless of Netanyahu’s objections,” Al-Nanu added.
Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office told CNN in a statement that the aim of broadcasting Netanyahu’s speech was part of a “public diplomacy effort.”
Watch the moment a slew of UN delegates walked out:
Analysis: Netanyahu slams Iran and Western countries in fiery but expected UN speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Iran and Western countries recognizing a Palestinian state in a fiery — but mostly expected — speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking to a largely empty UN plenum after many delegations filed out in protest, Netanyahu began his speech by holding up a small map of Iran and its proxies in the region. For the Israeli leader, this is familiar ground, as he has often used visual aids at the UN to highlight a point about Iran. This time, Netanyahu crossed the proxies and their associated countries off one-by-one as he recounted Israel’s military campaigns over the last year, including killing the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.
Netanyahu said many around the world had forgotten October 7, but he promised that Israel would not. He was firmly unapologetic for the war in Gaza after nearly two years and vowed to continue until Hamas is destroyed, as the Israeli military carries out an ongoing assault on Gaza City that has seen scores killed nearly every day.
Netanyahu also used arguably his harshest language yet at the UN about a two-state solution. In previous speeches, he at least made a token acknowledgment of the far-off possibility of such a policy. Now, Netanyahu outright rejected it, saying that “Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats.”
Netanyahu was also sure to mention the remaining hostages held in Gaza near the top of his speech. There are 48 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Netanyahu read the names of the living hostages one at a time, beginning with Matan Angrest. Only hours earlier, Matan’s mother said on social media: “Netanyahu, my Matan and other hostages may hear you today. Any sentence other than ‘I came to the U.S. to sign a deal that brings you all home’ amounts to psychological abuse for them.”
Irish prime minister urges Israel's backers to “reflect carefully” on Gaza war support
Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin urged Israel’s military suppliers to “reflect carefully” on their support for the war in Gaza in his speech at the United Nations on Friday.
The prime minister recounted a UN commission’s finding earlier this month that found Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip qualified as genocide. Israel has strongly denied the commission’s conclusions.
The US has sent or sold billions of dollars of military aid and equipment to Israel since the October 7 attacks in 2023. Ireland, meanwhile, is one of the most pro-Palestinian countries in Europe, with a solidarity borne out of a shared experience of subjugation at the hands of an occupying power.
Martin added that he appreciated “the profound and continuing impact the trauma has had on the people of Israel.”
“Hamas, not the Palestinian people, were responsible” for the October 7 attacks, Martin said. “Hamas must answer for its crimes. Hamas can have no role in the future governance in Palestine. But no crime, however heinous, can justify genocide.”
Israel inflicting starvation, abuse and invasive cell searches on eminent Palestinian doctor, says lawyer
Israel has inflicted abuse, starvation and invasive cell searches on an eminent Palestinian doctor, according to an Israeli nonprofit, nearly a year after he was first detained in a raid that shut down one of the last remaining functioning hospitals in northern Gaza.
On Thursday, a lawyer working with Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) was able to visit Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya after four prior attempts were denied “without explanation,” the group said.
Abu Safiya has lost 55 pounds (25 kilograms) from “severe starvation” at Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, PHRI alleged. Authorities have withheld clean clothing and medical care from Abu Safiya, who has pre-existing heart struggles and untreated scabies, the PHRI lawyers added.
He has not been brought before a judge, interrogated, or informed of the legal grounds of his detention since March, PHRI said, adding: “Dr. Abu Safiya emphasized that he is detained solely because of his role as a doctor.”
CNN has reached out to the Israel Prison Service for comment on the allegations.
Israeli forces detained Abu Safiya — the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya — during a raid that shut down the medical facility in December. At the time, the Israeli military said it detained him because he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.” The military did not provide any evidence to support the claims.
Abu Safiya’s detention comprises a broader campaign of “systematic targeting and abuse” of Palestinian health care workers, PHRI said. More than 100 medical staff have been incarcerated without formal charges, according to the Israeli nonprofit, in “clear violation” of due process.
"Very close" to Gaza deal ending war and securing hostage releases, Trump says
President Donald Trump this morning struck an optimistic note on a deal that would end the war in Gaza and facilitate the return of remaining hostages, though he didn’t provide details of any plan.
“I think we have maybe a deal on Gaza, and very close to a deal on Gaza; it’s looking like we have a deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
His comments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders at the United Nations that Israeli will “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in Gaza.
Possible peace plan: On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump and top US officials proposed a 21-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza.
The plan that the US proposed included a number of points that the administration has made publicly, including the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire, according to a source briefed on the matter.
It also outlined a framework for how Gaza can be governed without Hamas and included a proposal for Israel gradually withdrawing from the Gaza strip, the source said.
Arab leaders meeting with Trump on Tuesday endorsed large parts of his plan but made suggestions on provisions they want added, according to two regional diplomats.
Trump has expressed optimism previously at nearing a solution to end the nearly two-year conflict, only to see the arrangements collapse.
Still, Trump has made clear he hopes the conflict will end soon. He plans to meet Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Chinese premier calls for "kindness" as he warns of challenges to rules-based order
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said “humanity has come to a crossroads” during his speech at the United Nations on Friday as he warned of a “serious challenge” to the global rules-based order.
“Anyone who cares about the state of affairs in the world would want to ask, why couldn’t we, humans, having emerged from tribulations, adopt a greater sense of conscience and rationality and treat each other with kindness and coexist in peace?”
The premier added that China is actively involved in settling “hot spot issues” around the world, “such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Li further noted the symbolism surrounding the UN headquarters in New York, which he said moved him upon his arrival.
“Arriving at the UN headquarters this time, I saw over 190 national flags lined up in front of the building and fluttering in the breeze,” Li said. “I saw the sculptures that has beat swords into plowshares and non-violence with their time-tested message ever so loud.”
Israeli opposition leader slams Netanyahu for "tired" speech that did not outline a path to end the war
We’re now hearing from Yair Lapid, the head of Israel’s opposition, who criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for delivering a UN address filled with “gimmicks,” also calling him “tired and whining.”
“Instead of stopping the diplomatic tsunami – Netanyahu today worsened Israel’s situation,” he added.
Lapid has repeatedly called for the government to end the war and bring back the hostages.
People in Gaza tell CNN they did not receive messages broadcasting Netanyahu's speech
Multiple residents in Gaza told CNN they did not receive messages to stream Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly this morning, despite his claim.
“Thanks to special efforts by Israeli intelligence, my words are now also being carried, they’re streamed live to the cell phones of Gazans,” Netanyahu said in his speech. CNN has seen no evidence of the streaming of Netanyahu’s speech to phones in Gaza.
Six residents in Gaza — all in different areas — said that they did not receive any messages about the speech, and they were not listening to Netanyahu’s remarks.
Israel also said it broadcast the speech via loudspeakers on the Gaza border as part of what Netanyahu’s office calls a “public diplomacy effort.”
Netanyahu calls countries' recognition of a Palestinian state "shameful" and "insane"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the notion of a Palestinian state during his UN General Assembly address, dubbing the recent wave of recognitions as “shameful, sheer madness and insane.”
Days after France, Britain, Canada, Australia, and other Western countries announced the Palestinian diplomatic initiative, Netanyahu attacked world leaders and accused them of buckling under pressure.
“Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don’t have the guts to face down a hostile media and antisemitic mobs demanding Israel’s blood,” he said, referring to an Israeli parliament declarative vote last year in which 99 out of 120 lawmakers voted in favor of a motion rejecting unilateral moves that would impose a Palestinian state.
He said he is not “held hostage by extreme parties” to the right. “My opposition to a Palestinian state is not simply my policies or my government’s policy, it’s the policy of the state and people of the state of Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu deploys props and a "pop quiz" during his UN speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used props, maps and diagrams during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly today.
Here’s a look:
- A QR code: He wore a large, white button displaying a QR code. “Much of the world no longer remembers October 7, but we remember,” Netanyahu said, pointing to the button and asking people to use the QR code that led to a website about the Hamas attacks.
- A map: He brought out a prop from his speech at the UN last year: a map displaying what he called “the curse of Iran’s terror axis,” with Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon highlighted in red.
- A pop quiz: He brought out a placard. “Let’s do a pop quiz, and raise your hand if you know the answer,” Netanyahu said. “Here’s the first question. Who shouts ‘Death to America’? Is it A, Iran? B, Hamas, C, Hezbollah? D, the Houthis, or E, all of the above?” After a beat, Netanyahu continued. “All of the above — correct, all of the above.”
Netanyahu is not the only leader to disrupt the monotony of UN meetings with visual aids. This year, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian showed delegates a photo collage of children killed in Gaza during his speech.
Past instances have been far more elaborate: another Israeli official used a miniature paper shredder to destroy a copy of the UN charter last May. Going back even further, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell infamously brandished a replica vial of anthrax during a Security Council meeting a month before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Netanyahu blasts world leaders: "When the going got tough, you caved"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed international criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, accusing world leaders of caving into “biased media, radical Islamist constituencies and anti-semitic mobs” during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
Addressing the ongoing war in Gaza, Netanyahu said global support for Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attack “quickly evaporated when Israel did what any self-respecting nation would do in the wake of such a savage attack — we fought back.”
He added: “There’s a familiar saying, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ Well, for many countries here, when the going got tough, you caved. And here’s the shameful result of that collapse.”
Netanyahu says he is addressing hostages and Hamas through loudspeakers broadcasting into Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his UN General Assembly speech that he “surrounded Gaza with massive loudspeakers connected to this microphone in the hope that our dear hostages will hear my message.”
The Israeli prime minister’s office told CNN in a statement earlier that it “instructed civilian bodies, in coordination with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), to place loudspeakers on trucks on the Israeli side of the Gaza border only,” with the aim of broadcasting Netanyahu’s speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to special efforts by Israeli intelligence, my words are now also being carried, they’re streamed live to the cell phones of Gazans,” he added. CNN has seen no evidence of the streaming of Netanyahu’s speech to phones in Gaza.
“So to the remaining Hamas leaders and to the jailers of our hostages, I now say: Lay down your arms. Let my people go. Free the hostages, all of them, the whole 48 — free the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “Now, if you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down.”
Watch: Delegates walk out of UN General Assembly
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to start speaking in front of the UN General Assembly, dozens of delegates streamed out of the room.
Watch the moment:
Netanyahu vows Israel will "finish the job" of eliminating Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in Gaza as he gave his annual speech at the United Nations General assembly on Friday.
“Much of the world no longer remembers October 7, but we remember. Israel remembers October 7 on that day,” he added, referring to a QR code on his jacket that links to the October 7 atrocities website.
He added: “On October 7, Hamas carried out the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. They slaughtered 1,200 innocent people, including over 40 Americans and foreign nationals from dozens of countries represented here.”
