President Joe Biden's administration remains steadfast in its view that the Palestinian Authority is the "legitimate governing authority" over the Palestinian territories, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said.

The comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he disagreed with the White House's view of having the Palestinian Authority take over in Gaza following the end of the war.

The spokesperson noted that while the U.S. might not always agree with the Palestinian Authority, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, has a long track record of providing security and stability in the West Bank.

"They are not prepared to go into Gaza tomorrow, but Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revamped and revitalized Palestinian Authority," the spokesperson said.

U.N. General Assembly President Dennis Francis urged representatives to vote in favor of the humanitarian cease-fire resolution, calling on member states to end the bloodshed and "psychological torture" of Palestinians.

"For as long as this violence persists, a political solution will continue to be undermined," he said in his opening remarks. "The longer it takes, the higher the risk that a negotiated two-state solution will increasingly become out of reach. The fact of the matter is, quite simply, the violence must stop. It must."

A cease-fire is the only realistic step forward to end the war, Francis said, especially as the world watches an "already crumbling humanitarian system" collapse in real time.

He asked the world body to vote in favor of the resolution "for the sake of humanity."

The United Nations General Assembly begins its special session today to vote on a draft resolution demanding a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

Last week, the U.S. used it's veto power to unilaterally reject a similar resolution in the U.N. Security Council. The move drew widespread condemnation as critics of Israel's campaign in Gaza are increasingly concerned for the survival of Palestinian civilians.

A General Assembly resolution, unlike those made in the council, are nonbinding. The General Assembly approved a resolution in October calling for a humanitarian truce and condemned Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said comments from Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu about the Oslo Accords confirms "that his war is against all Palestinians."

In a post on X directed to Netanyahu, Al-Sheikh said that “Oslo died under the tracks of his tanks that are sweeping through all our cities, villages and camps from Jenin to Rafah.”

Israeli media reported yesterday that Netanyahu compared the Oslo Accords with Hamas' Oct. 7 attack during a closed-door meeting with the Knesset's foreign affairs and defense committee. Netanyahu posted on his official Facebook page today with a message in Hebrew that translates to “I won’t let Israel repeat the Oslo mistake."

The Oslo Accords were agreements negotiated in 1993 between Israel, the PLO and the U.S. establishing the Palestinian Authority, the governing body that rules in the West Bank. The discussions led to yearslong peace talks that fell apart after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was killed by an Israeli who opposed the accords.

Israel may win the war against Hamas but runs the risk of becoming an isolated state over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the former undersecretary of defense for policy, Michèle Flournoy, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

"Israel may destroy Hamas or degrade them seriously, but they're going to lose all international support," Flournoy said.

Four organizations —Amnesty International, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Human Rights Watch and War on Want — signed a joint letter to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urging the government to stop arms sales to Israel as the war on Gaza continues.

According to The Guardian, the organizations argued that there is a "clear risk" that arms provided by the U.K. could be used in acts that violate international law in Gaza. Human Rights Watch U.K. Director Yasmine Ahmed published an op-ed today explaining the decision to sign on to the letter.

Ahmed argued that Israel's military has targeted civilian infrastructure and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel intends to make Gaza a wasteland. By contributing arms to such a venture, Ahmed wrote, the United Kingdom could be complicit in war crimes.

"The UK should follow its own laws and immediately suspend licenses for arms and military equipment to Israel," Ahmed wrote. "In failing to do so, it risks breaching its own laws and being complicit in grave abuses."

TEL AVIV — The bodies of two hostages have been recovered in Gaza and returned to Israel following a special forces operation, the IDF said in a statement.

Eden Zakaria, 27, and Ziv Dado, 36, were identified by the Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israeli police and their families have since been notified, according to the military. Two IDF reservist soldiers were killed in the operation and several others were injured.

Zakaria was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, while he was attending a music festival. Dado, a sergeant major in the IDF, was abducted while serving as a logistics supervisor in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion.

Israel's government needs to change as the country loses support in the war, President Joe Biden said today during a campaign reception in Washington.

He told the crowd that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was making their relationship "difficult" as some within Israel's legislation do not want a two-state solution. He said that Netanyahu has a tough decision to make but that there is an opportunity to unite the region.

Biden's remarks come after he expressed overall support for Israel at a Hanukkah reception at the White House last night. But Biden also noted that he has long had "differences with some Israeli leadership," including Netanyahu.

"He has a picture on his desk of he and I when he was a young member of the Israeli service here. ... I was a 32-year-old senator, and I wrote on top of it, 'BiBi I love you but I don't agree with a damn thing you had to say,'" Biden said last night. "It's about the same today."

In a video posted on his official government account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not allow the Palestinian Authority to take over in Gaza after the war is over.

The statement is a stark contrast to the U.S. position, and Netanyahu acknowledged that, saying he appreciates the U.S. government support, but this is where they disagree. He states that he will not allow Gaza to become "Hamastan nor Fatahstan."

"I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo," Netanyahu says. "After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism."