It is one of the most dramatic storylines ever delivered at Cannes: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof walked the red carpet Friday after fleeing a prison sentence in his home country just days before the film festival.

He received raucous standing ovations before and after the gala screening of "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", which is competing for the top prize Palme d'Or.

"I hope the entire apparatus of oppression and dictatorship will disappear from Iran," he told the packed Cannes theatre, where he brandished photos of the movie's actors.

The top United Nations court on Friday ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah "immediately", a landmark ruling likely to increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza war.

The International Court of Justice also ruled Israel must keep open the key Rafah crossing for "unhindered" humanitarian aid and urged the "unconditional" release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 assault.

The world cannot look to UN peacekeepers as a way of stopping wars, whether in Gaza or other active conflict zones, the department chief told AFP, citing the famous Blue Helmets' inherent limitations.

A mission in the occupied Palestinian territories, for example, is only "very, very, very hypothetical," Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said.

The Arab League has called for such a deployment.

Negotiations on a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics ended Friday without a deal -- though countries said they wanted to keep pushing for an accord.

Scarred by the devastation caused by Covid-19 -- which killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems -- countries have spent two years trying to hammer out binding commitments on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said Thursday that Israeli authorities are prioritising the private commercial sector at the main crossing point for goods entering Gaza.

"When it comes to the crossing in Kerem Shalom, the private sector for the time being is being prioritised," Lazzarini told AFP, adding that the development had occurred over the past two weeks.

He said the prioritisation took place at the inspections level, with private sector trucks inspected "before any other trucks".

Representatives of Indigenous peoples celebrated Friday at the United Nations following the agreement of a treaty against the pillaging of their traditional knowledge and genetic resources, like those from medicinal plants.

The new treaty, agreed by more than 190 nations, aims to combat so-called biopiracy by making applicants for patents disclose the origins of such materials used in a new invention.

A stressful refugee drama screening in Cannes shines light on the Palestinian plight and the excruciating moral choices migrants have to make to help loved ones start a new life abroad.

"To a Land Unknown", directed by Mahdi Fleifel, follows two Palestinian refugee cousins around Athens as they try to save up money to pay a smuggler to sneak them into Germany.

Chatila has left a young family behind in Lebanon to try to keep his fragile cousin Reda sober and away from their squat's poet drug dealer long enough to gather the cash.

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof arrived at the Cannes Film Festival Thursday after his dramatic escape from his homeland after being sentenced to eight years in prison.

"I can't believe I'm standing here," AFP journalists heard him telling officials in the Palais des Festivals, where the world's biggest film festival is being held.

He declined questions from reporters ahead of the premiere of his new film, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", which is competing for the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, on Friday.

Palestinians on Thursday began assessing the damage caused by a two-day Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank that left 12 people dead, including children.

Young Palestinian militants shouted into walkie-talkies as they loaded anti-tank obstacles into a pickup truck, an AFP correspondent reported as he toured the camp after the troops left.

Black canvas sheets littered the narrow alleyways of the impoverished camp, torn down after providing cover from Israeli drones.

Lebanese school children on a minibus had a narrow escape Thursday when a drone strike killed a Hezbollah fighter in the car ahead, blowing out the windscreen of their vehicle and wounding three pupils.

The injured children were hospitalised with cuts from flying glass after the aerial attack, which state media and a source close to the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.

"At first, we didn't understand what was happening, and there was panic among the children," said Ahmad Qubaisi, 57, who was driving the bus with 18 children on board.