Israel welcomed Sunday the reinstatement of broad U.N. sanctions against Iran, saying they were a direct response to what it called violations committed by the Islamic republic in its nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that there are “very inspired and productive discussions with the Middle Eastern Community concerning Gaza.”

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair could take a leading role in a transitional authority for Gaza under US-led peace plans, various British media reported on Friday.

The United Nations has added nearly 70 more companies to a blacklist of firms from 11 countries that it says are complicit in violating Palestinian human rights through their business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The new list spotlights companies that do business that's deemed supportive of the settlements, which are considered by many to be illegal under international law. It includes an array of companies like vendors of construction materials and earth-movers, as well as providers of security, travel and financial services.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Friday that at least nine people were killed by Israeli strikes on the country's rebel-held capital of Sanaa the previous day, the latest in an increase in exchanges between Israel and the Iranian-backed rebels over the war in Gaza.

The strikes on Thursday afternoon came a day after a drone launched by the Houthis wounded 22 people in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a rare breach of Israel's air defenses.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he believed that a deal had been struck to end the war on Gaza, following recent talks with Israel and Arab states.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday in an angry U.N. address to block a Palestinian state, accusing European leaders of pushing his country into "national suicide" and rewarding Hamas.

President Donald Trump has vowed not to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, offering strong assurances that he'd block a move that Arab leaders in the region have staunchly opposed.

Asked Thursday about Israel officials suggesting in recent weeks that their government could move to seize control of at least some parts of the West Bank, Trump was blunt.

Facing international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his chance to push back Friday on the international community's biggest platform.

Netanyahu's annual speech to the U.N. General Assembly is always closely watched, often protested, reliably emphatic and sometimes a venue for dramatic allegations. But this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader.

Israel's defense minister said the military struck Houthi targets in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on Thursday, a day after a Houthi-claimed drone attack on the Israeli tourist resort of Eilat.

"We have just dealt a powerful blow to numerous terror targets of the Houthi terror organization in Sanaa," Israel Katz said in a post on X.