Diplomats stream out as Netanyahu speaks at UN

Swathes of empty seats were left in the hall.

There were boos and cheers as the diplomats left the hall, with the session's chairman calling for order.

By the end of the walkout, there were swathes of empty seats when Netanyahu started his address.

During his speech, Netanyahu spoke directly to hostages held in Gaza and their captors.

To the hostages he said: "We have not forgotten you... we will not falter, we will not rest until we have brought all of you home."

To Hamas's leadership, he said: "Lay down your arms... free the hostages now. If you do you will live, if you don't Israel will hunt you down."

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But Netanyahu hit out at the "false charge of genocide" against Israel. This comes weeks after a UN commission of inquiry concluded Israel had committed four of the five acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

He also held up a map of the Middle East with crosses through threats that the Israeli PM said had been eliminated. This included Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

This week, the UK, France, Canada and Australia all formally recognised the Palestinian state in a show of support for a two-state solution.

And on Thursday, Donald Trump claimed a deal to ease the fighting in Gaza was "very close."

This came as he said he would "not allow" Israel to annex the West Bank.

Large parts of Netanyahu's government have called for Israel to increase its presence in the area to stop the establishment of a Palestinian state.