Gaza teacher Tareq al-Ennabi arranges his pupils' chairs in a circle, sets out the slates and chalk, and plans his lesson for the day: how to say in English "I love Palestine".
Nearly two months ago, Hamas fighters streamed into Israel from the Gaza Strip in the worst attack in the country's history, taking some 240 hostages and killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's war with Hamas pushed its way to centre-stage at UN climate talks in Dubai on Thursday, with campaigners calling for a ceasefire and Israel taking the opportunity to discuss hostage releases.
More than seven weeks into the deadly war, the COP28 talks opened with a moment's silence announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president, for "all civilians who have perished during the current conflict in Gaza".
The Red Cross, which has faced criticism for not doing enough for hostages and prisoners in the Gaza conflict, stresses it has no "superpowers" and relies on the warring parties for access.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, founded 160 years ago to serve as a neutral intermediary between belligerents in conflict and to visit and assist prisoners of war, has been accused by both sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict of not providing adequate help to those being held.
Britain on Thursday announced that it was sending one of its most advanced naval vessels to the Gulf to shore up its presence in the region.
The HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, will conduct operations to ensure freedom of navigation, reassure merchant vessels and ensure the safe flow of trade, the defence ministry said.
"It is critical that the UK bolsters our presence in the region, to keep Britain and our interests safe from a more volatile and contested world," said Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Israel to create safe zones for Palestinian civilians in Gaza before it resumes "major military operations" in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Speaking on the seventh day of a pause in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, Blinken also called for a further extension of the truce which included hostage and prisoner swaps and aid deliveries into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hours after the traumatic October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Michael and his wife knew they had to abandon their Tel Aviv home and flee to the nearest destination, Athens, for the sake of their family.
"We left Israel to protect our children, so that they are (as little) traumatised as possible," the social scientist, who declined to give his surname for security reasons, told AFP.
The UN's former climate chief said she was "giving up hope" that fossil fuel firms will be part of the solution to warming as pivotal COP28 talks start Thursday in oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
With the UN climate negotiations expected to feature a showdown on the future of fossil fuels, Christiana Figueres expressed concern over reports the UAE planned to use its role as host to strike oil and gas deals.
Starvation, torture, robbery -- young Ethiopian migrant "returnees" recount the horrors they endured on their fruitless journeys in search of a better life in the Gulf.
"I was imprisoned and beaten for money. I have a scar on my back which has lasted five months," said 23-year-old Abu Gizaw Assefaw, now back home nursing his shattered dreams of a job in oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed three people on Thursday, shortly after the extension of a truce between Israel and the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.
Police said the two gunmen who carried out the attack were from annexed east Jerusalem and were shot dead at the scene, near a bus stop on the western side of the city, where there are no checkpoints controlling entry.
Nearly 200 nations agreed Thursday to launch a fund to support countries hit by global warming, in a "historic" moment at the start of UN climate talks in the oil-rich UAE.
The announcement came as the Emirati host of the COP28 talks declared that fossil fuels must be part of any climate deal negotiated over the next two weeks.
The talks in Dubai come at a pivotal moment for the planet, with emissions still rising and the UN on Thursday declaring 2023 on track to become the hottest year in human history.
