The UN Security Council on Thursday will try once again to pass a resolution calling for a halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas after previous efforts to win Washington's backing fell short.

Diplomatic wrangling at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan headquarters -- which caused the vote to be postponed again Wednesday -- has come against a backdrop of deteriorating conditions in Gaza and a mounting death toll.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced guarded hope Wednesday that the United States would be able to support a new UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, with a sticking point on access for aid.

The United States, Israel's critical ally, has vetoed two resolutions at the Security Council as it rejected calls on Israel to end its military campaign launched in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Clutching an olive branch, 24-year-old Roni keeps a wary eye out for the police as she leads a small ceasefire march through the heavily guarded streets of Tel Aviv.

She and her friends say they have been arrested, harassed and received death threats following similar demonstrations against Israel's onslaught of the Gaza Strip after Hamas's bloody October 7 attack.

"It's almost impossible to call for peace in Israel right now," the activist said, glancing over her shoulder. "You have to be very careful."

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen expressed support during his visit to Cyprus on Wednesday for plans to send humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip from the Mediterranean island.

Cyprus has proposed establishing a corridor to collect, inspect, and store aid on the island before shipping it to Gaza.

Cohen, after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos, emphasised the need for an "organised and well-inspected" transfer of aid.

"We aim to create a fast track for humanitarian aid to Gaza through this corridor," he told reporters.

Russia and the Arab League called jointly on Wednesday for a UN ceasefire resolution for the Israel-Hamas war during the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The forum, which usually focuses on diplomatic and economic ties, was dominated by the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

"We hope that the Security Council will raise its voice for a mature resolution (calling for a ceasefire)," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the meeting. "We have agreed to continue coordination within the United Nations."

Iran on Wednesday hanged a woman convicted of murdering her husband, whom she married while still a child, defying an international campaign for clemency, rights groups said.

Samira Sabzian, who had been in prison for the past decade, was executed at dawn in Ghezel Hesar prison in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group said.

Her execution comes as concern grows over the numbers of people this year executed by Iran, where hundreds of people have been hanged mainly on drugs and murder charges, including more than a dozen women.

France's domestic intelligence chief was appointed Wednesday to head the country's DGSE foreign espionage service made famous by the fictional hit series "The Bureau".

Nicolas Lerner is to replace a career diplomat as head of the Directorate-General for External Security, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

It is the first time that a former head of the Directorate-General for Internal Security (DGSI) has become chief of the foreign intelligence agency.

Britain's top court ruled Wednesday that a Guantanamo detainee waterboarded by the CIA can use English law in his claim against the UK government over alleged complicity in the torture.

Abu Zubaydah was the first of a number of prisoners to be subjected to CIA "enhanced interrogation" techniques following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Saudi-born Palestinian, whose full name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and has been held without trial at the US Guantanamo camp in Cuba since 2006.

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian motorist in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, while the army said it had "neutralised a terrorist".

Basel Wajeeh al-Muhtasib, 28, "died as a result of being shot by occupation (Israeli army) bullets" as he drove through Bayt Inun junction, north of the city of Hebron, Wafa reported.

Israeli security forces cordoned off the area preventing Muhtasib from being taken to hospital, the report said.

Kuwait's new emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmed al-Sabah on Wednesday criticised parliament and cabinet for harming national interests as he was formally sworn in before lawmakers as the country's 17th ruler.

Officially taking over from his half-brother Sheikh Nawaf, who passed away on Saturday, Sheikh Meshal is faced with the task of pulling the country out of longstanding political paralysis and reforming a bloated public sector that have turned Kuwait into one of the Gulf's most laggard states.