Italy will vote in favor of granting upgraded status to the Palestinians at the United Nations later on Thursday, the government said, despite earlier press reports that it would abstain.

"Italy has decided to offer its support for the resolution giving Palestinian non-member permanent observer status at the General Assembly of the United Nations," the government said in a statement.

An Egyptian panel was rushing through on Thursday approval of a new constitution at the center of a political crisis pitting the Islamist president against his opposition, which has threatened new protests.

By late afternoon, the constituent assembly, which has been boycotted by liberals and Christians, had approved almost one-fifth of 234 articles, including a unanimous decision to retain Islamic law as the main source of legislation.

Four of fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's bodyguards were sentenced to death on Thursday for killing a civil defense officer and his wife, judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said.

The sentences were handed down by the Central Criminal Court for the killings in west Baghdad in 2011, Bayraqdar told AFP.

The case against a young Tunisian woman allegedly raped by two policemen has been dropped, her lawyer said on Thursday.

The case was dismissed "against the woman and her boyfriend," lawyer Emna Zahrouni said.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused the Syrian opposition of using young boys to serve as fighters, guards and lookouts in the brutal conflict with regime forces.

"Children as young as 14 have served in at least three opposition brigades, transporting weapons and supplies and acting as lookouts," the New York-based watchdog said. "Children as young as 16 have carried arms and taken combat roles against government forces."

Spain said Thursday it had decided to recognize the opposition Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government also invited the Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib to visit Spain.

Waving their national flag and expressing hope for a new voice on the international stage, Palestinians rallied on Thursday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ahead of their new U.N. bid.

Thousands gathered at celebratory demonstrations across the territories in the hours before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was to address the General Assembly on the bid for enhanced U.N. status.

Protesters torched a security post and two police vehicles in central Tunisia on Thursday, Agence France Presse reported, as anti-government protests spread from the town of Siliana.

Hundreds of people demonstrated for a third straight day in Siliana demanding that the government-appointed regional governor step down, raising fears of fresh violence after bloody clashes there on Wednesday that left more than 250 people wounded.

The Syrian regime was the only government in the world to lay new landmines this year, campaigners said Thursday as they issued an annual report on the use and effect of the devastating weapons.

Mark Hiznay, the editor of the report for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), said the finding is a significant change from last year, when four governments laid mines, and represents the lowest number since the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty was signed in 1997.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday downplayed a Palestinian attempt to secure upgraded status at the United Nations, saying it won't help them achieve their long-promised state.

"The decision at the United Nations today won't change anything on the ground," Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Jerusalem. "It won't promote the establishment of a Palestinian state, it will distance it.