The United Nations’ high court docket started hearings Thursday on South Africa’s allegation that Israel’s conflict with Hamas quantities to genocide in opposition to Palestinians. Israel strongly denies the declare.
Though the case is more likely to take years to resolve, South Africa is asking the Worldwide Court docket of Justice to order a right away suspension of Israel’s navy offensive within the Gaza Strip.
Israeli navy operations in Gaza have not too long ago centered on the southern metropolis of Khan Younis and concrete refugee camps within the territory’s heart. A whole lot of individuals have been killed in current days in strikes throughout the territory, together with in areas of the far south the place Israel instructed individuals to hunt refuge.
In the meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been assembly with leaders throughout the Mideast, looking for to rally the area behind postwar plans for Gaza. The push got here because the U.S. and British militaries launched retaliatory strikes on websites utilized by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Oct. 7 Hamas assault from Gaza into southern Israel that triggered the conflict killed round 1,200 individuals and noticed some 250 others taken hostage by militants. Israel’s air, floor and sea assault in Gaza has killed greater than 23,000 individuals, 70% of them girls and youngsters, based on the Well being Ministry within the Hamas-ruled territory. The rely doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
At the moment:
— The U.S. and British militaries bomb greater than a dozen websites utilized by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen in an enormous retaliatory strike.
— The U.N.’s high court docket opens hearings on South Africa’s allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
— Pleasant fireplace could have killed their family on Oct. 7. Israeli households need solutions now.
— Palestinian viewers are captivated and moved by case at UN’s high court docket accusing Israel of genocide.
— The Israeli navy says it discovered traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza.
— Nelson Mandela’s help for Palestinians endures with South Africa’s genocide case in opposition to Israel.
— Blinken sees a path to Gaza peace, reconstruction and regional safety after his Mideast tour.
— Discover extra of AP’s protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
This is what’s taking place within the conflict:
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. humanitarian workplace says Israel allowed solely three of 21 deliveries of meals, drugs and different lifesaving provides to northern Gaza between Jan. 1 and Jan. 10.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric mentioned the deliveries additionally included missions to supply medical provides and gasoline for water and sanitation services in Gaza Metropolis.
“The U.N.’s means to reply to intensive wants within the northern a part of Gaza is being curtailed by recurring denials of entry for help deliveries and lack of coordinated secure entry by the Israeli authorities,” he instructed reporters Thursday. “These denials and extreme entry constraints are paralyzing the power of humanitarian companions to reply meaningfully, persistently and at scale.”
Dujarric mentioned deteriorated in contrast with December, when greater than 70% of deliberate U.N. missions to the north had been undertaken, to about 14% within the first 10 days of January.
“Day-after-day that we’re unable to supply help ends in the lack of lives and struggling for tons of of 1000’s of people that stay in northern Gaza,” he mentioned.
WASHINGTON — A number of U.S. officers say U.S. and British militaries are bombing over a dozen websites utilized by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in an enormous retaliatory strike utilizing warship-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.
The anticipated targets included logistical hubs, air protection programs and weapons storage places, the officers mentioned.
Related Press journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard 4 explosions early Friday native time however noticed no signal of warplanes. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, mentioned they heard 5 sturdy explosions. Hodieda lies on the Crimson Sea and is the biggest port metropolis managed by the Houthis.
The strikes mark the primary U.S. navy response in opposition to the Houthis for what has been a persistent marketing campaign of drone and missile assaults on business ships because the begin of the conflict in Gaza. The officers confirmed the strikes on situation of anonymity to debate navy operations.
___ By Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp.
SANAA, Yemen — America Navy says the Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile on Thursday from Yemen into one of many delivery lanes within the Gulf of Aden, simply south of the southern Arabian nation.
In a put up on X, the U.S. Central Command mentioned the missile was fired at round 2 a.m. Thursday and {that a} crew on a close-by vessel noticed the missile hit the water. It’s the twenty seventh Houthi assault on business delivery since Nov 19, the navy mentioned.
The Shiite Islamist group says the assault within the Crimson Sea are aimed toward stopping Israel’s conflict on Hamas within the Gaza Strip. Many of the ships focused haven’t any connection to Israel.
The newest assault comes because the chance of U.S. led-strikes on Houthi targets grows. Western leaders have issued a number of public statements warning the Houthis to stop the assaults, cautions the rebels have largely ignored.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s navy has claimed that two Palestinian journalists killed in airstrike focusing on their car this week had been members of militant teams.
The navy mentioned Al Jazeera reporter Hamza Dahdouh and freelancer Mustafa Tharaya, killed in southern Gaza on Sunday, had been “actively concerned” in assaults in opposition to Israeli forces.
Dahdouh was the son of veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh, whose spouse, two different kids and a grandson had been killed by a earlier Israeli strike.
The navy on Wednesday launched what it mentioned was a doc found by troops in Gaza figuring out Hamza Dahdouh as a member of Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group after Hamas. It mentioned he was listed on a roster of the group’s “digital engineering unit.”
The doc couldn’t be independently verified, and Israel didn’t say when or the place the doc was present in Gaza. Michael Milshtein, an Israeli professional on Palestinian militant teams, mentioned the doc appeared genuine, citing its emblem, its content material and outline of the members.
The navy additionally alleged Dahdouh served in a rocket battalion however didn’t present proof.
In a response to Israel’s declare Thursday, Islamic Jihad didn’t affirm or deny Dahdouh’s membership. A spokesperson, Mohammed Hajj Moussa, accused Israel of making an attempt “to divert the main focus from its crimes and massacres.”
Al Jazeera didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Israel’s allegations in opposition to Dahdouh.
The navy additionally claimed that Tharaya had served as a deputy commander in Hamas’ Gaza Metropolis brigade.
Israel didn’t launch any documentation or proof for that allegation, and Hamas didn’t reply to the declare.
In an preliminary assertion, the military had implied a 3rd man touring within the automotive had been working a hostile drone and was the goal.
However on Wednesday, it mentioned Dahdouh and Tharaya had been struck as a result of they’d been flying drones that posed an “imminent risk” to close by troopers. The 2 journalists had been killed whereas on their solution to an project in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera mentioned in an announcement after their deaths.
The Qatar-based TV station accused Israel of intentionally focusing on the reporters and vowed to take “all authorized measures to prosecute the perpetrators of those crimes.”
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels warned Thursday that any assault by U.S.-led forces on Houthi targets will spark a fierce navy response.
The Houthis have carried out dozens of assaults in opposition to business delivery within the Crimson Sea since late November, and say their assaults are aimed toward stopping Israel’s conflict on Hamas within the Gaza Strip. Many of the ships focused haven’t any connection to Israel.
“The response to any American assault won’t solely be on the stage of the operation that was not too long ago carried out with greater than 24 drones and a number of other missiles,” mentioned Abdel Malek al-Houthi, the group’s supreme chief, throughout an hourlong speech. “It is going to be better than that.”
On Tuesday, the Shiite Islamist group fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles focusing on ships within the Crimson Sea, forcing U.S. and British naval vessels and American fighter jets to shoot down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile, the episode al-Houthi is probably going referring to.
Al-Houthi’s speech comes because the chance of U.S. led-strikes on Houthi targets grows. Western leaders have issued a number of public statements warning the Houthis to stop the assaults, cautions the rebels have largely ignored.
CAIRO — Hamas praised the case made by South Africa’s authorized group at The Worldwide Court docket of Justice on Thursday accusing Israel of genocide.
In a brief assertion issued on the group’s Telegram web page, it mentioned South Africa is proving “its principled place in help of our Palestinian individuals … and its rejection of the brutal crimes of the occupation (by Israel) in opposition to our individuals.”
The militant group mentioned it hoped the case will first deliver an finish to Israel’s three-month bombardment of Gaza after which consequence within the nation being prosecuted on genocide expenses.
The Hamas-Israel conflict erupted on Oct. 7 when militants from the group stormed southern Israel and killed 1,200 individuals, principally Israelis, and kidnapped about 250 others. Israel has mentioned the assault quantities to a conflict crime.
Israel responded by launching an aerial and floor assault on Gaza, flattening giant swathes of the territory. The Hamas-run Well being Ministry says greater than 23,300 individuals have been killed by Israeli fireplace and strikes because the conflict erupted.
BEIRUT — Hezbollah says an Israeli airstrike on a well being heart run by the militant group killed two paramedics and wounded one other.
Thursday’s airstrike within the border village of Hanine hit a middle run by Hezbollah’s Islamic Well being Group.
Hezbollah’s media workplace described the assault as “a flagrant aggression on a middle that serves Lebanese residents wounded by the continuing Israeli aggression.”
There was no speedy remark from the Israeli navy.
Tensions have soared alongside the Israeli-Lebanese border since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel ignited the conflict in Gaza. Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has been attacking Israeli navy posts alongside the border. Israel has been finishing up artillery shelling and airstrikes.
The violence has killed at the least 20 civilians in Lebanon and greater than 150 Hezbollah members.
CAIRO — The Hamas-run Well being Ministry in Gaza mentioned Thursday that the variety of Palestinians killed by Israeli fireplace and airstrikes has risen to 23,469 because the conflict erupted on Oct. 7. The rely doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the ministry, mentioned 59,604 different individuals had been wounded over the identical interval. He mentioned 70% of these killed had been girls and youngsters.
Nearly all of the useless have been killed in Israeli airstrikes which have decimated huge swathes of the territory.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel and killed 1,200 individuals, principally Israelis, and kidnapped about 250 others.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s International Ministry spokesman is asking South Africa’s look on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice to accuse Israel of genocide “one in every of historical past’s biggest shows of hypocrisy.”
In a put up on X, previously known as Twitter, after the listening to Thursday, Lior Haiat known as South Africa “Hamas’ representatives in court docket.” He mentioned its attorneys distorted the fact in Gaza by a collection of “baseless and false claims,” with out elaborating.
He mentioned South Africa ignored the brutal nature of Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7, when 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, had been killed, saying it was an try at genocide. He mentioned the attorneys additionally ignored Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields and that it operates from inside civilian areas.
He mentioned Israel would proceed to work to crush Hamas and free the hostages that stay in its captivity.
CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up his newest pressing Mideast tour on Thursday with talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, as U.S. officers declare modest success in getting Mideast leaders on board with basic planning for building and governance in Gaza after Israel’s conflict with Hamas ends.
Blinken secured Arab help to start such planning in discussions with the leaders of Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over the weeklong mission.
Every nation — together with Greece, which Blinken additionally visited — pledged to take part within the planning, however officers mentioned exact roles have but to be decided.
Talking at Cairo’s airport, Blinken mentioned Israel bolstering its safety and the creation of a Palestinian state is one of the best ways to thwart assaults from Iran’s regional proxies.
“The opposite path is to proceed to see the terrorism, the denialism, and the destruction by Hamas, by the Houthis, by Hezbollah, all backed by Iran,” he mentioned.
No particulars had been instantly launched about his assembly with the Egyptian president.
Arab help is contingent on not solely the tip of the battle however the institution of a selected pathway for the creation of an impartial Palestinian state, one thing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.
BEIRUT — A senior U.S. envoy who arrived Thursday in Beirut as a part of a world scramble to include the regional fallout of the continuing conflict in Gaza reiterated that the U.S. desires a diplomatic answer to stop an additional escalation of combating between Israel and Hezbollah alongside the Lebanese border.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed virtually each day for the previous three months. The border combating has escalated in current weeks, significantly since suspected Israeli strikes killed a high Hamas chief and a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon this month.
Israeli officers have threatened a wider conflict in Lebanon if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw its forces north of the Litani river as stipulated in a 2006 cease-fire settlement.
“I feel you’ve all heard what the federal government of Israel has mentioned, which is that there’s a slim window, however that they like a diplomatic answer. I feel that’s the case,” Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, instructed journalists after assembly with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and highly effective Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
“We live in a disaster second the place we wish to see a diplomatic answer, and I imagine that each side favor a diplomatic answer” so the tens of 1000’s of displaced individuals on each side of the border can return residence, he mentioned.
Hochstein mediated a landmark deal demarcating Lebanon and Israel’s maritime border in 2022. Earlier than the outbreak of the continuing Israel-Hamas conflict, he mentioned he hoped to dealer an analogous deal on the land border — a trickier and extra politically fraught subject.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a current speech signaled an openness to Lebanon reaching an settlement on the land border however mentioned it could solely occur after the Israel-Hamas conflict ends. Lebanese International Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has mentioned that no deal on a land border demarcation or on Hezbollah’s presence within the border space could be signed earlier than the conflict ends, however that discussions may begin whereas the battle continues.
TEL AVIV, Israel — The households of hostages held by militants within the Gaza Strip have gathered alongside the border with the beleaguered territory to scream messages that they hope will probably be heard by their captive family members.
In stormy climate, dozens of family held posters bearing their family members’ photographs Thursday. They used a microphone and speaker to beam their messages into Gaza.
“Omer, are you able to hear us? It’s ima and aba,” mentioned Orna Neutra, the mom of Omer, who’s being held in Gaza, utilizing the Hebrew phrases for mother and pop. “We’re right here. We’re combating for you.”
In its Oct. 7 assault, Hamas-led militants captured roughly 250 individuals. Dozens had been launched throughout a weeklong cease-fire in November, however about 110 stay in captivity. Some 20 hostages had been killed, a number of had been retrieved by Israel and three had been killed mistakenly by Israeli forces combating in Gaza.
The gathering comes as Israel faces genocide accusations on the world court docket in The Hague, which it vehemently denies.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A lawyer representing South Africa’s authorized group has known as the Gaza Strip “a focus camp the place genocide is going down.”
John Dugard made the remarks whereas he was laying out a case in entrance of the Worldwide Court docket of Justice Thursday that South Africa has jurisdiction to take Israel to court docket over the genocide cost. He was repeating remarks made in 2023 by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The genocide cost strikes on the coronary heart of Israel’s nationwide identification and such comparisons of Israel’s conflict in Gaza to Nazi focus camps on a world stage are more likely to stir feelings in Israel, which sees itself as a bulwark of safety for Jews after 6 million had been killed within the Holocaust. Worldwide help for Israel’s creation in 1948 was deeply rooted in outrage over Nazi atrocities.
South Africa desires the court docket to rule that Israel is committing genocide in its conflict in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip. Israel denies the fees, saying it’s combating a conflict of self-defense following Hamas’ lethal Oct. 7 assault.
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s International Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi is scheduled to offer an oral assertion Feb. 19 on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice, ministry spokesperson Lalu Muhammad Iqbal mentioned Thursday. She is anticipated to ask the court docket to concern an advisory opinion on questions from the United Nations Common Meeting concerning the results and authorized standing of Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
Legally, Indonesia can’t be a part of within the lawsuit as a result of it is not social gathering to the Genocide Conference, which is the premise of the lawsuit, Iqbal mentioned. Nevertheless, “morally and politically, Indonesia absolutely helps South Africa’s authorized efforts on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice over Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza,” he mentioned.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel says 10 firms within the Netherlands refused to publish billboards displaying hostages held in Gaza that had been meant to go up forward of the genocide case in opposition to Israel. The billboards had been set to indicate posters of individuals nonetheless held by militants with their names, an image and a line studying: “He can’t testify at present.”
Israeli authorities official Moshik Aviv mentioned the businesses’ determination to tug the billboards, which had been a part of a paid marketing campaign in a number of areas of the Netherlands, was an try and silence the voices of hostages held within the Gaza Strip. Related posters hung by activists wanting to lift consciousness have develop into flashpoints in cities around the globe, with opponents seeing them as Israeli propaganda.
Israel stepped up its messaging forward of the court docket listening to at The Hague. It launched a web site displaying grisly photos from Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault in opposition to southern Israel, when roughly killed 1,200 individuals had been killed and a few 250 had been taken hostage.
Israel vehemently denies the genocide allegations and says it’s combating a conflict in self-defense.
TEL AVIV, Israel — State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller says accusations that Israel is committing genocide in opposition to Palestinians within the Gaza Strip are unfounded, hours earlier than the Worldwide Court docket of Justice in The Hague begins to listen to South Africa’s case in opposition to Israel.
Miller mentioned late Wednesday that the court docket “performs a significant function within the peaceable settlement of disputes,” however he mentioned Israel had the fitting to defend itself and mentioned it was Israel’s enemies who had been calling for the “mass homicide of Jews.”
Miller reiterated the USA’ help for Israel in its conflict whereas calling for extra methods to guard civilians, and for Israel to abide by worldwide humanitarian regulation. He additionally condemned inflammatory rhetoric on all sides.
In its court docket submitting, South Africa cited incendiary remarks from Israeli leaders and navy officers as a sign of intent to commit genocide.
BEIRUT — A Palestinian journalist who was detained by the Israeli navy in Gaza in December described the expertise because the “worst 33 days of my life.” Diaa al-Kahlout, a reporter for the Arabic-language Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, mentioned in an interview Thursday along with his community that he was detained with round 100 males, together with a number of family, who had been sheltering within the northern city of Beit Lahiya.
He says the troopers accused them of being members of Hamas and compelled them to strip to their underwear. He says he was questioned about an article he wrote in 2018 a couple of botched Israeli navy operation in Gaza, calling it a “distressing expertise.” These detained included boys as younger as 16 and a 77-year-old man apparently affected by dementia, based on al-Kahlout. He says they had been held on the Zikim navy base north of Gaza and had been pressured to take a seat “on their knees” for the primary 25 days.
The Israeli navy was trying into the allegation and had no speedy remark.
The Israeli navy says it has detained and interrogated tons of of individuals it suspects of hyperlinks to Hamas, which triggered the conflict in Gaza with its Oct. 7 rampage into Israel. A number of detainees have mentioned after their launch that they had been denied meals and water and subjected to beatings and different abuse. The navy has denied allegations of mistreatment.
