U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday ahead of key vote on U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state that the Middle East peace process is on "life support".

But he told a U.N. meeting that only "direct negotiations" between the Palestinians and Israelis can lead to a permanent settlement.

Members of Israel's Labor party went to the polls on Thursday to select candidates for parliament ahead of a January general election.

Polls opened at 10.00 am (0800 GMT) in 70 locations across the country and were due to close 12 hours later, with party leader Shelly Yachimovich to announce official results at 7.00 am (0500 GMT) on Friday, Labor’s website said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday downplayed a Palestinian attempt to secure upgraded status at the United Nations, saying it won't help them achieve their long-promised state.

"The decision at the United Nations today won't change anything on the ground," Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Jerusalem. "It won't promote the establishment of a Palestinian state, it will distance it.

Germany will abstain in Thursday's vote at the United Nations on whether to grant upgraded diplomatic status to the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

"Germany will abstain at today's vote in the General Assembly of the United Nations on the non-member observer status for the Palestinian Authority," Westerwelle said in a statement.

Officials in Gaza said Israeli troops shot and wounded five Palestinians along the border Wednesday and arrested nine fisherman at sea, a week after the two sides agreed a truce.

Medical officials said that army fire injured four Palestinians east of El-Bureij refugee camp in the center of the strip and a fifth in the north, near the Erez crossing to Israel.

The Palestinians are facing "intensive pressure" not to sue Israel for war crimes at the International Criminal Court should they win upgraded U.N. status this week, an official said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said the Palestinian leadership had not given in to heavy international pressure to commit that they would not sue Israeli officials at the ICC should they win recognition as a non-member state at the United Nations.

The new party set up by Israel's former opposition leader Tzipi Livni is likely to fare poorly in the January elections and have no impact on the strength of the rightwing bloc, a poll said Wednesday.

Livni returned to politics on Tuesday after a seven-month hiatus, announcing the creation of a new faction called HaTnuah, hoping to affect what surveys have suggested will be an easy electoral win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his bloc of rightwing and religious allies.

France on Wednesday warned the Palestinians against taking Israel to the International Criminal Court should they win upgraded U.N. status this week, saying it would it damage peace efforts.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius acknowledged it would be within the Palestinians' rights to join the ICC and pursue Israel should they win recognition as a non-member state at the United Nations.

Israeli troops on Wednesday crossed the barbed wire in al-Wazzani hills and entered into an area that the Lebanese Army has expressed reservations over, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said the 11-member Israeli unit crossed the technical fence and marched 10 to 15 meters into the disputed area at around 8:00 am.

The United States publicly disagreed with France, one of its closest allies, on Tuesday, after Paris said it would back a Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations.

"We obviously disagree with our oldest ally on this issue. They know that we disagree with them," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "But it's their sovereign decision to make, how to proceed."