Neil Young songs aren’t typically used as tools of diplomacy. Tuesday night in wartime Ukraine’s capital, not long before curfew, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken deployed a left-handed guitar in the service of supporting Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

Before Blinken became the top American diplomat, he was a serious rock guitarist — and along with a Ukrainian band, he played “Rockin’ in the Free World,” a 1989 song by Young, the Canadian American musician, for a packed basement music club.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

The vote by the 193-member UNGA on Friday was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member – a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state – after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.

The United Nations General Assembly has enhanced Palestine's rights within the organisation and called for it to be accepted as a member.

Palestine has had non-member observer state status since 2012, which allows some rights short of a full member.

Membership can only be decided upon by the UN Security Council.

The US recently vetoed a bid for full membership, but Friday's vote can be seen as a gesture of support for the Palestinians.

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan warned the global body supposedly meant to preserve peace and punish violence that it was about to make a grave mistake by voting to grant statehood membership status to "Palestine," making it a day that "will go down in infamy."

Hamas said it has accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar which seeks to halt the seven-month war with Israel in Gaza.

In a statement Monday, Hamas said the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian intelligence minister that the militant group had accepted their proposal.

The Israeli government is now reviewing the Hamas response, CNN has learned. The Israeli prime minister’s office has declined to comment at this stage.

Israeli officials said the cease-fire deal Hamas claims to have accepted from Egypt and Qatar on Monday was not approved by the Jewish state — and that it could be a “deception” by the terrorist organization. 

The stakes could hardly be higher at this moment. Israel is preparing to launch an offensive in Rafah, the last stronghold for Hamas — and a city where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge while fleeing war elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

Israel played down the likelihood of a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from mediators, even as residents fled the city of Rafah in fear of an Israeli assault.

The last minute moves towards a ceasefire came as Israeli forces struck Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and ordered residents out of parts of the city, which has served as the last refuge for more than a million displaced Gazans.

Saudi Arabia and the United States are finalizing the details of a landmark deal to strengthen bilateral trade and defense – but an agreement will not be reached if the kingdom and Israel do not establish diplomatic relations, US officials said.

A major part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s transformational plan for the Middle East—more like a Hail Mary than a real plan—is to see Saudi Arabia and Israel normalize their relations. To make it happen, Washington would have to provide Riyadh, among other things, with a formal defense pact. Israel, per Saudi wishes, would have to take irrevocable steps to help create an independent Palestinian state.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pushed the Biden administration over the weekend to get a mutual defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia to help calm tensions in the Middle East.

Graham made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” during which they discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Blinken said late last week that he thinks Israel and Saudi Arabia can normalize relations even without a ceasefire in Gaza.