The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution on Thursday giving implicit recognition to Palestinian statehood despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding funds for the West Bank government.

The resolution, which lifts the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican possesses, easily passed the 193-nation General Assembly with 138 nations voting in favor, and nine opposed, including the United States. Forty-one countries abstained, including the United Kingdom.

Israel, the United States and the other members who opposed the resolution see it as a largely symbolic and counterproductive move by the Palestinians. The vote took place on the 65th anniversary of the assembly's adoption of resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has led the campaign to win support for the resolution, which follows an eight-day conflict this month between Israel and Islamists in the Gaza Strip, who are pledged to Israel's destruction and oppose his efforts toward a negotiated peace.

The U.S. State Department made a last-ditch effort to get Abbas to reconsider, but the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, held firm. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Brookings Institution on Thursday, said the U.S. believes the resolution will "do nothing to advance the peace and the two-state solution we all want to see."

She noted that while the U.S. planned to vote "no," she played down differences with key diplomatic partners in Europe, including France, which were expected to vote in favor of the resolution.

Reuters

A Palestinian man shouts slogans during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday. The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations.

"We and our European partners agree on the most fundamental issues and share a common objective — two states living side-by-side living in peace and security," Clinton said.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said in a statement after the vote that "the only way to establish such a Palestinian state and resolve all permanent-status issues is through the crucial, if painful, work of direct negotiations between the parties."

"The United States therefore calls upon both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them," Rice said.

The U.K. had committed to voting for the resolution if Abbas had shown commitment to resuming peace negotiations without preconditions. Lacking that assurance, Britain abstained from the vote.

Following the vote at the UN General Assembly the Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "We continue to believe that the prospects for a swift return to negotiations on a two state solution — the only way to create a Palestinian state on the ground — would be greater today if President Abbas had been able to give the assurances we suggested, and without which we were unable to vote in favor of the resolution.

UN Palestinian statehood vote to be a personal political victory for Abbas 

"In particular, we called on President Abbas to set out a willingness to return to negotiations without preconditions, and to signal that the Palestinians would not immediately seek action in the International Criminal Court, which would be likely to make a return to negotiations impossible.

"Nonetheless, we will redouble our efforts to restart the peace process, and will continue our strong support for President Abbas, the Palestinian Authority, and a two state solution," he said.

Despite its fierce opposition, Israel made efforts that appeared designed to prevent diplomatic isolation. In recent days, it toned down threats of retaliation in the face of wide international support for the initiative, notably among its European allies.

"The decision at the United Nations will change nothing on the ground," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem. "It will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. It will delay it further."

But U.N. diplomats say that Israel's reaction might not be so measured if the Palestinians seek ICC action against Israel on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes the court would have jurisdiction over.

Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full U.N. membership — something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it does allow them access to the International Criminal Court and other international bodies, should they choose to join them.

Speaking at an annual U.N. event in support of the Palestinians, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki appealed to U.N. member states to support Thursday's U.N. resolution. He also repeated his support for peace with Israel.

"Despite diminishing hopes and the decline of the situation on the ground due to Israel violations, we remain committed to the two-state solution and our hand remains extended in peace," he said at U.N. headquarters in New York.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated U.S. warnings that the move could cause a reduction of U.S. economic support for the Palestinians. The Israelis have also warned they might take significant deductions out of monthly transfers of duties that Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as calling on Washington and Israel to avoid "any hasty and destructive decisions."

"Supporting the Palestinian authorities is not only in the interest of the Palestinian side, but also of Israel and the whole international community that is longing for a peaceful political settlement," he said.

The European Union, a key donor for the Palestinians, has made clear it will not curtail aid after Thursday's vote.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called for a revival of the peace process: "Israelis and Palestinians must break out of a zero-sum mentality, and embrace a peaceful path forward."

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Flag-waving Palestinians thronged the squares of the West Bank and Gaza Strip before Thursday's vote. In a rare show of unity, Abbas's Islamist rivals Hamas, who have ruled Gaza since a brief civil war in 2007, let backers of the president's Fatah movement hold demonstrations there.

Peace talks have been stalled for two years, mainly over Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have expanded despite being deemed illegal by most of the world. There are 4.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

In the draft resolution, the Palestinians have pledged to relaunch the peace process immediately following the U.N. vote.

With strong support from the developing world that makes up the majority of U.N. members, it is virtually assured of securing more than the requisite simple majority. Palestinian officials hope for more than 130 yes votes.

Abbas has focused on securing as many votes as possible from Europe, and his efforts appear to have paid off.

Going into the vote, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland had all pledged to support the resolution. 

NBC News' Kari Huus and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET: The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed from his grave on Tuesday -- eight years after his death at age 75 — as part of an investigation into allegations that he was poisoned, according to official Palestinian radio. 

Arafat's body was uncovered in its grave and samples were removed without having to lift the corpse from the ground. As a result, a planned reburial ceremony with full military honors was called off.

The tomb was resealed in hours and wreaths were placed by Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

"The state of the body was exactly what you would expect to find for someone who has been buried for eight years. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Health Minister Hani Abdeen told a news conference.

A Palestinian medical team took samples and gave them to Swiss, French and Russian experts who flew in for the exhumation and who will examine them in their home countries, the officials said. Samples were taken earlier from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, they said.

Arafat case: 'Proof' still might elude Palestinians

French judges opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in August after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing.

Slideshow: Arafat, in images

AP

See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.

Launch slideshow

Jordanian doctor Abdullah al Bashir, head of the Palestinian medical committee, said about 20 samples were taken and analysis would take at least three months.

"In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year," said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland that carried out tests on Arafat's clothes.

Rumors of foul play have long surrounded the sudden demise of Arafat, a champion of Palestinian statehood from the time he was 19, and eventually, the democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles.

He died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. The rapid deterioration of his health and death baffled doctors who were trying to treat him in France, and an autopsy was never performed at the request of his widow, Suha.

'A painful necessity'
While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him. Israel has denied such allegations.

Poisoning as a cause of death gained currency after a Swiss institute said it had found high levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's clothing, which was supplied by Suha, prompting the French to open a formal murder inquiry.

Polonium was the substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Litvenenko was a Russian ex-spy who later became a relentless critic of the Kremlin.

"It is a painful necessity" to exhume the body of Arafat, said Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is in charge of the Palestinian committee overseeing the investigation, speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday.

Tirawi said the Palestinians had "evidence which suggests Arafat was assassinated by Israelis," Reuters reported.

The exhumation might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing. 

NBC's Kari Huus, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET: Following her arrival in Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated at a press conference Tuesday that America's commitment to Israel's security is "rock solid," adding that "the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike."

"The rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside Gaza on Israeli cities and towns must end, and a broader calm restored," Clinton said, adding that there are no substitutes for security and a just and lasting peace.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Clinton also offered her condolences for those lost in the violence.

"Our hearts break for the loss of every civilian, Israeli and Palestinian, and for all those who have been wounded and are living in fear and danger," she said, adding that she would work with Israel and Egypt on brokering a truce in Gaza "in the days ahead."

Israel is prepared to escalate its offensive but would prefer a long-term diplomatic solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that," he said in a public statement alongside Clinton.

"But if not, I'm sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people."

Earlier, a Hamas official said a truce with Israel would not be reached Tuesday because the Israeli government had yet to respond to proposals.

"The Israeli side has not responded yet, so we will not hold a (news) conference this evening and must wait until tomorrow," Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas leader, told Reuters. "The truce is now held up because we are waiting for the Israeli side to respond," he added in a short telephone interview.

Clinton landed at 9:51 p.m. local time in Tel Aviv, where she met with Netanyahu. Later, Clinton will meet with the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before heading to Cairo.

A U.S. official stressed to NBC News that Clinton would not meet with representatives of Hamas, the Islamist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, largely because of its failure to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Egyptian officials said talks are ongoing to reach a truce in Gaza, although any agreement appears unlikely to address the long-term areas of disagreement between Israel and the Hamas leaders of the Gaza Strip, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported Tuesday.

The expected "cessation of hostilities" will call on all parties to use maximum restraint, according to one former intelligence official familiar with the talks.

Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

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Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

Launch slideshow

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama spoke to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who is seeking to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. 

According to White House officials, Obama spoke to Morsi for the third time in 24 hours. Deputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama wanted to talk to Morsi before Clinton's arrival in Israel.

Rhodes said Obama underscored the importance of Morsi working toward a de-escalation to the conflict in Gaza. He also commended Morsi's efforts to pursue a de-escalation and acknowledged Egypt's important role in the region's security.

Rhodes said Obama emphasized the importance of a diplomatic solution, but said that rocket fire from Gaza into Israel must stop.

Israel Defense Forces continued airstrikes overnight, and also said 39 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel Tuesday in a message on its Twitter account.

Since Israel launched its military campaign seven days ago in response to rocket fire, more than 100 people in Gaza and three people in Israel have been killed.

Internationally, the main focus was on stopping the violence, and Morsi hinted at a possible breakthrough Tuesday.

Speaking at his sister's funeral in Egypt, Morsi said the "aggression on Gaza" would end Tuesday. He made the apparently off-the-cuff comments in front of mourners who had come to pay their respects, but did not elaborate. Several journalists traveling with Morsi confirmed he made the remark.

'Army must invade': In southern Israel, support grows for action in Gaza

In Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel would be a “willing partner” in a cease-fire, but also issued a warning.

He said if further military action proved necessary “to stop the constant barrage of rockets, Israel will not hesitate to do what is necessary to defend our people.”

And Mohammed Deif, the new leader of Hamas' military wing, sounded a defiant note, saying that the movement was ready to fight and would not back down from its efforts to liberate Palestine.

He was speaking in his first audio recording since the group’s previous top military commander, Ahmed Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Wednesday. Deif, who has survived several assassination attempts in the past, called for Hamas’ supporters to remain steadfast. 

We are very scared': Egyptians fear being mired in Gaza-Israel crisis

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'Difficult' situation

It is unclear how much influence Clinton can have on the situation.

“She is going to go out there to be in the region to have direct, face-to-face discussions with those leaders,” Rhodes said. “I don’t want to predict exactly what the outcome of those discussions will be. We all know how difficult this situation is.” 

The White House thinks the leaders who are heavily involved in the region “understand what the best outcome is,” Rhodes added, but that a peaceful goal is only achievable “if Hamas takes action to stop what they’ve been doing.”

An Israeli soldier and a civilian died when rockets exploded near the Gaza frontier, police and the army said.

An Israeli air strike on two cars in the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinians Tuesday, while two children died in an attack in the north of the territory, local residents and medics told Reuters. 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Tuesday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and said a threatened Israeli ground operation in the Palestinian enclave would be a “dangerous escalation” that must be avoided.

Later, standing alongside Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Ban urged Israel to show "maximum restraint" and condemned rocket attacks on Israel.

Also Tuesday, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and Sudan traveled from Egypt to Gaza in an unprecedented move designed to show solidarity with the Palestinians, NBC News reported.

US Embassy guard wounded
Meanwhile, a man was arrested after he stabbed a security guard Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, a police spokesman told Reuters. 

The spokesman said the guard opened fire during the attack.

Israel Radio said the attacker, who police said was armed with a knife and an ax, was wounded. 

Oded Balilty / AP

Israeli police officers detain a man who attacked a security guard at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday.

NBC's Shawna Thomas, Ayman Mohyeldin and Ian Johnston, and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated 12:55 a.m. ET:  Israeli troops were moving toward the Gaza Strip border, heightening Palestinian fears about a possible ground invasion, NBC News' Martin Fletcher reported late Thursday.

Some 30,000 reservists were also ordered to report for duty by the Israel's defense minister as the region's military showdown lurched closer to all-out war.

"There is a great sense of anxiety and tension in the air here," NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported from Tel Aviv. "People are very much worried about the ongoing operation. There's no doubt from the perspective of the Palestinians this could possibly escalate even further."

There will be momentary peace, however, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said military would stop offensive action in Gaza during a three-hour Friday visit by Hesham Kandil, Egypt's prime minister. An Israeli official said Netanyahu was acting on an Egyptian request, Reuters reported.

Kandil's visit would be an unprecedented display of solidarity with Hamas militants embroiled in a new escalation of conflict with Israel.

In another sign of the growing fear of danger in Gaza, many humanitarian aid workers have evacuated, NBC News reported.

In the latest air strikes, three people were killed when a missile hit their car in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military also said it had carried out aerial attacks and had destroyed 70 unmanned missile launch sites. Eighteen Palestinians have been killed and 100 injured in Gaza since Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Earlier, three Israeli civilians were killed and six injured on Thursday as rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, including a long-range missile that struck a suburb eight miles south of Tel Aviv.

The long-range missile, which landed in an open area outside Rishon Lezion, causing no injuries or damage, was thought to be the first of its kind launched from Gaza. Air raid sirens were later sounded in Tel Aviv, at about 6.30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET), NBC News reported.

The Tel Aviv metropolitan area has more than 3 million people, more than 40 percent of Israel's population.

"This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a television broadcast shortly after the strike. 

Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, did not rule out a ground operation in Gaza in an interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday.

"Nobody wants a ground operation, and we are going to try to avoid that," Oren said, "But, again, we're going to have to take all necessary means to defend our citizens against this flagrant aggression. "

The funeral was held Thursday for Ahmed Jabari, the senior Hamas military commander, who was one of those killed in the Israeli Defense Force airstrikes.

The IDF said on its website that the three people killed were civilians in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malachi.

It added that 43 of the rockets from Gaza had been intercepted by its defense systems, and that it had targeted 156 "terror sites" in Gaza since the start of what it called "Operation Pillar of Defense."

"In the past 24 hours, 245 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel," it said.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on Thursday condemned the killing of Jabari.

"Men and women in Palestine, we will continue the resistance," Meshaal said at a meeting of Islamic leaders in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting late on Wednesday to discuss the Israeli assault. It called for a halt to the violence, but took no action.

Analysis: Israel, Gaza slide closer to war neither side wants

The Palestinian Authority renewed its call Thursday for the Security Council to stop attacks. (Hamas controls Gaza, not the Palestinian Authority.)  

Egypt officially requested on Thursday a full meeting of the Security Council to discuss what it described as Israeli aggression, and withdrew its ambassador from Israel.

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi said in a televised address to the nation Thursday that Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip were "unacceptable" and would lead to instability in the region.

Morsi said he had discussed "ways to reach calm and end the aggression" in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Hamas is affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood which now controls Egypt, Israel's most powerful Arab neighbor and a crucial partner in the 1979 peace treaty that stands between fragile stability and regional chaos. The Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday called for all ties with Israel to be severed.

PhotoBlog: Deadly day along Israeli-Gaza border, after Israel kills Hamas military chief

Hamas has been emboldened by the Islamist rise to power in Egypt, viewing Morsi as a "safety net" who will not permit a second Israeli thrashing of Gaza, home to 1.7 million Palestinians. 

Expecting days or more of fighting, Israel warned Hamas that all its men were in its sights and dropped leaflets in Gaza telling residents to keep their distance from militants and Hamas facilities.

"The leaflets stress that Hamas is dragging the region toward violence, and that the IDF is prepared to defend the residents of the State of Israel until quiet is restored to the region," the military said in a statement.

Israel also warned its own citizens to stay off the streets. 

Israel kills Hamas military chief, 7 others in airstrike, officials say

The United States condemned Hamas, shunned by the West as an obstacle to peace, for its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel. 

The U.S. State Department on Thursday called for a de-escalation of the violence in the Middle East and placed the onus for that violence squarely on Hamas.

"There's one clear way to mitigate the tensions,” spokesperson Mark Toner said. “That is for Hamas to stop its rocket attacks on Israel so we can de-escalate the situation and end the violence. That's the clearest path." 

Israel says it has already destroyed much of Gaza's longer-range rocket stockpiles. Reuters reported that Hamas had claimed it had fired a 1.1 ton, Iranian-made Fajr 5 rocket at Tel Aviv, but there was no reported impact in the Israeli city.

Few in the Palestinian territory's largest urban area, Gaza City, came out following the call for dawn prayers on Thursday, and the only vehicles plying the streets were ambulances and media cars. 

About 400 angry mourners braved the streets, however, to bury Jabari, whose body was draped in the green flag of the Islamic militant Hamas movement. Some fired guns in the air and chanted, "God is Great, the revenge is coming."

When the body was brought into a mosque for funeral prayers, some tried to touch or kiss it. Others cried. BBC producer Paul Danahar posted pictures of the scene outside the mosque on Twitter.

President Barack Obama also spoke to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Morsi on the telephone late Wednesday.

A White House spokesman said Obama reiterated to both leaders the United States' support for Israel's right to self-defense, and agreed with Morsi on the importance of working to de-escalate the situation.

Reuters, The Associated Press, NBC News' Martin Fletcher, Ayman Mohyeldin, Catherine Chomiak and Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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GAZA STRIP -- Israel killed three Hamas gunmen in Gaza Strip air strikes on Tuesday which the military said targeted squads preparing to launch rockets into the Jewish state.

The air force operations followed other Palestinian attacks, including a bomb blast that wounded an Israeli army officer patrolling the Gaza border, on a day that saw the isolated, Hamas-governed enclave receive its first foreign head of state, the emir of Qatar.

Israeli leaders had vowed retaliation for the morning bombing on Gaza's boundary fence, but Israeli television said military actions were put on hold until Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had left.

Palestinians mourn militants killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza

The rich Persian Gulf state has had low-level diplomatic ties with Israel and hosts a major U.S. naval base.

Hamas said three of its gunmen were killed and another three wounded in two air strike in northern Gaza. It did not comment on Israel's allegation that they had prepared rocket launches. Six other rockets were fired across the border on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, though causing no damage or casualties.

The border bombing was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of several small factions in Gaza that often operate independent of the dominant Hamas.

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Israel's policy is to hold Hamas responsible for any attacks from the territory, which the Islamist group has controlled since 2007.

Though hostile to Israel, Hamas has mostly sought to avoid direct clashes as it shores up its rule in the face of more radical challengers and reaches out to potential allies abroad.

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