Hamas and Israel have created a "hell on Earth" for children in Gaza, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday before a ceasefire brought 11 days of conflict to an end.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly before Israel's security cabinet approved the truce, Mr Guterres berated the Israeli military and Palestinian militant groups for the carnage.
"I am deeply shocked by the continued air and artillery bombardment by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza," he said.
"Indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas and other militant groups towards population centres in Israel is also unacceptable ... If there is a hell on Earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza."
On Wednesday evening after the ceasefire began, Mr Guterres told reporters he welcomed the development but pointed to a difficult road ahead for Gaza and stressed the need to restart the peace process with the goal of finding a two-state solution.
"Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a responsibility beyond the restoration of calm to start a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict," he said.
"Gaza is an integral part of the future Palestinian state and no effort should be spared to bring about real national reconciliation that ends the division."
The ceasefire, which began at 2am in Israel, came after the Palestinian foreign minister and Israel's ambassador had accused each other of "genocide" at a special UN meeting on the crisis.
"The whole world stays silent and turns a blind eye to the genocide of whole Palestinian families," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al Maliki said.
Gilan Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the US and UN, walked out during Mr Al Maliki's speech.
He then alleged there was indifference to "Hamas's charter, which, like the Nazis, is committed to the genocide of the Jewish people".
"We see an attempt to create a false moral equivalence," Mr Erdan said. "Israel makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas makes every effort to increase civilian casualties."
The General Assembly meeting had been requested by Niger and Algeria, the current chairs of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the Arab Group at the UN, respectively.
Eleven days of air strikes and rocket attacks killed at least 232 Palestinians in Gaza and 10 people in Israel.
Israel struck Gaza hard on Thursday before the ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military said it had hit at least three homes of Hamas commanders in Khan Younis, with bombing raids on Deir Al Balah and Gaza city.
Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu said Iran had launched a drone towards Israel, a claim the military has yet to confirm.
“While we were engaged in these hostilities a few days ago, Iran sent an armed drone from Iraq or from Syria,” he said.
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Price: From Dh650,000
England Test squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
