Israel strikes kill 54 in Gaza

According to reports, one of the strikes hit a school in central Gaza that was sheltering displaced families.

Fahmi Al-Jargawi School in Gaza City was housing several displaced people from Beit Lahia town.

The town is currently facing an Israeli assault.

A spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence told BBC that 20 bodies, including those of children, were recovered – many were severely burned, after fires engulfed two classrooms turned into living quarters.

The Israeli military (IDF) told the British media it had targeted "a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control centre".

The IDF claimed Hamas was using "the Gazan population as human shields".

"Flames were everywhere. I saw charred bodies lying on the ground," said Rami Rafiq, a resident living across from the school, in a phone call with BBC. "My son fainted when he saw the horrific scene."

Two State Solution: Diplomats Prepare Ground For June Conference

Diplomats convened at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday to lay the groundwork for a crucial international conference in June, aimed at advancing global efforts towards achieving a two-State solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The preparatory session brought together UN Member States to align expectations and finalise arrangements for eight thematic roundtables that will help shape the conference’s outcome.

General Assembly President Philémon Yang urged countries to seize the crucial opportunity to finally make progress.

“The horrors we have witnessed in Gaza for over nineteen months should spur us to urgent action to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The devastating cycles of death, destruction, and displacement cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.

“This conflict cannot be resolved through permanent war, nor through endless occupation or annexation. It will only end when Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in their own sovereign, independent States, in peace, security, and dignity,” he added.

About The Conference

The conference will include a plenary session with statements from the President of the General Assembly, the UN Secretary-General, and the co-chairs, followed by interventions from Member States and observers.

According to a concept note from the co-chairs, the conference will also feature eight thematic roundtables, each focused on critical dimensions of the two-State solution.

The working groups include security arrangements for both Israelis and Palestinians, the economic viability of a Palestinian State, and humanitarian action and reconstruction.