Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a settlement project that would effectively split the occupied West Bank in two, possibly destroying hopes for a future Palestinian state.

Funeral services were held Wednesday for a young Palestinian woman who died in Italy shortly after being evacuated from Gaza last week, exposing Italians to the desperate plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory.

Life comes before revenge,” Rudy Chen, the father of Itay Chen, an Israeli American soldier who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, told NBC News.

The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association is calling for Israel to be suspended from international competition because of the war in Gaza.

The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on the International Criminal Court for pursuing investigations into U.S. and Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The State Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials,

Israel’s economy slumped in the second quarter as the country’s 12-day war with Iran imposed a total shutdown on many businesses.

Israel has opened an embassy in Zambia, more than half a century after it was shuttered following the Yom Kippur war and as the African nation’s Jewish population has dwindled to near zero. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Zambian Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe opened the embassy together on Wednesday.

In July, France and Saudi Arabia had agreed to revive the push for a two-state solution at a UN conference in New York in September.

Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged for a 13th consecutive time, as policymakers weigh a slowdown in the economy against ongoing uncertainty from the country’s nearly two-year war in Gaza.