January 11, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East has moved here.

US and coalition forces hit more than 60 targets at 16 Houthi militant locations in Yemen Thursday evening, US Air Force Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said in a news release.

More than 100 precision-guided munitions were used in the strikes on command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems, he said. 

“We remain committed to our critical partners throughout the Middle East to defend against Iranian-backed Militia Groups, including Houthi militants, and the threat they pose to regional security and stability,” Grynkewich said in the release.

Houthi officials said earlier that the strikes hit several locations in Yemen, including airports.

Russia has called an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council following joint US and UK strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, Russian officials said Thursday.

The meeting will take place on Friday morning, state-run news agency media TASS reported, citing Moscow’s mission to UN.

The joint strikes came after the Security Council approved a resolution on Wednesday demanding the Houthis stop their “brazen” attacks in the commercially vital Red Sea.

Russia and China were among four abstentions in that vote.

The joint strikes mark a significant response by the US and its partners after it warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of repeated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

In a statement, US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said the Houthis’ “illegal and dangerous actions will not be tolerated, and they will be held accountable.”

The US and UK militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday.

It marks a significant response after the US and its allies warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

The strikes come after the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on the Houthis to “cease its brazen” attacks in the commercially vital waterway.

Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen. They come at a time of huge tension in the Middle East as the US looks to ensure the war in Gaza does not spill out into the wider region.

Here’s what we know:

A video released by Houthi-run al-Masira TV allegedly shows the moment of the bombardment in Sanaa, Yemen.

Several US senators offered support for the strikes launched by the United States and Britain against Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, saying that response was long overdue amid increasing threats to international shipping in the Red Sea and regional stability in the Middle East.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said the US strike “was two months overdue,” but added that “it is a good first step toward restoring deterrence in the Red Sea.”

“This strike should be a warning to the Houthis and other Iranian proxies that they will suffer catastrophic consequences from escalation in the region,” Wicker said in a statement

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said US President Joe Biden’s decision to use military force against Iranian proxies is also “overdue,” adding that “these operations mark an enduring shift in the Biden Administration’s approach to Iran and its proxies.”

“I welcome the U.S. and coalition operations against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists responsible for violently disrupting international commerce in the Red Sea and attacking American vessels,” McConnell said in a statement.
“The United States and our allies must leave no room to doubt that the days of unanswered terrorist aggression are over.” 

Sen. Jack Reed, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, hailed “Biden’s strong actions against the Houthi militants,” saying the response was “necessary and proportional.”

“These strikes, in concert with weeks of diplomacy, send a clear signal that the United States will continue to take appropriate action to protect our personnel, our interests, and freedom of navigation for vital international waterways. Even as the Biden Administration continues to take a balanced and sensible diplomatic approach, today’s military actions were necessary and proportional,” Reed said in a statement.

The United States and Britain launched a series of strikes on Yemen on Thursday aimed at the Iran-backed Houthis that began targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year. The Houthis say their actions are in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a joint press conference with Israel's Defense Minister, in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2023.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered and monitored the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen from the hospital “with a full suite of secure communications,” a senior defense official said Thursday. 

Austin has been in the hospital since January 1 after he experienced complications from a December 22 procedure to treat prostate cancer.  

“Secretary Austin gave CENTCOM the order today to execute the strikes and monitored real-time with a full suite of secure communications capabilities,” the official said. “Following the strikes, he spoke with the National Security Council, the Chairman and the CENTCOM Commander to for an initial post-strike assessment.”

The defense official said that between Tuesday and Thursday evening, Austin spoke with President Joe Biden twice and “conducted multiple daily calls” with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, US Central Command commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, and the National Security Council “to discuss response options and execution following the President’s authorization.”

The defense official said in the last 72 hours, “has been actively engaged in overseeing and directing tonight’s strikes.”

Austin also participated in a meeting with Brown and Kurilla on January 9 “to monitor the Houthi’s complex attack in maritime shipping lanes and the Operation Prosperity Guardian response.” 

Some context: On Tuesday, the Pentagon revealed Austin is being treated for prostate cancer, following days of speculation about the cause of his hospitalization.

The episode has raised huge questions about transparency and communications within the administration, and the White House launched its own internal review of the processes surrounding appropriate notifications and transfer of authorities amid the backlash over Austin’s secrecy.

The Pentagon’s inspector general is also launching a review of whether the Pentagon has the appropriate policies in place to ensure an effective transfer of power and duties following Austin’s hospitalizations that were not immediately disclosed to the White House or other senior national security officials.

US and UK strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on Thursday may not be the final moves taken against the Iran-backed group, a senior US administration official said Thursday, signaling further action could be necessary to protect people and commerce in the Red Sea.

In his statement, US President Joe Biden vowed to “not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

The steps Biden directed Thursday — which came after a series of meetings with his national security team to discuss and refine a list of targets — were intended to seriously degrade Houthi sites, the official said.

“This was a significant action, and conducted with every objective and every expectation that will degrade in a significant way the Houthi’s capability to launch exactly the sorts of attacks that they have conducted over the period of recent weeks,” the official said.

Impact on Houthis: Meanwhile, a senior military official told reporters he could not provide an exact percentage of Houthi assets that were destroyed — but that it was “significant.” He added that precision-guided munitions were used to destroy the targets “and also to minimize collateral damage.”

The official emphasized that the strikes were not conducted as a part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, the maritime coalition of 22 countries set up last month to bolster security in the Red Sea. 

The official added that as of now, the Pentagon has not seen signs of retaliatory attacks by the Houthis against US or British assets stationed in the Red Sea. A senior Houthi official earlier claimed the group had launched retaliatory attacks on US and UK warships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the assault by Western allies.

Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern over the ongoing military operations in the Red Sea region and the air strikes targeting various sites in Yemen, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“While the Kingdom stresses the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region, in which freedom of navigation is an international demand because it harms the interests of the entire world, it calls for restraint and avoiding escalation in light of the events the region is witnessing,” the statement said.

The statement urged all parties involved to avoid escalating tensions amidst the current regional events.

Some context: The Houthis — an Iran-backed Shia political and military organization that has been fighting a civil war in Yemen against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia — have been launching drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea for weeks, many of which have been intercepted and shot down by US Navy ships in the area.

An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US-led coalition from RAF Akrotiri to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, in Cyprus, in this handout picture released on January 12, local time.

The British Royal Air Force said it has conducted strikes against two Houthi facilities in Yemen during joint operations in the southern Red Sea on Thursday.

Four RAF Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker used Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct strikes on two of these Houthi facilities.

The targets struck include several buildings at a site at Bani in northwestern Yemen used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones, the UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

It also struck an airfield at Abbs, which it claimed intelligence has shown that it has been used to launch both cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea.

The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond has already been active alongside US and French warships in defending vital international shipping lanes against Houthi drones and missiles.

“Given the persistence of the Houthis in threatening merchant ships, several of which have already suffered damage, and the deliberate targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on 9 January, coalition forces identified key facilities involved in these attacks, and agreed to conduct a carefully coordinated strike to reduce the Houthis’ capability to violate international law in this manner,” the ministry said.

The detailed results of the strikes are being assessed, but early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow, it added.

Houthi forces have launched retaliatory attacks on US and UK warships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the assault by Western allies, a senior member of the Houthi group, Abdul Salam Jahaf, claimed in a statement early Friday.

Meanwhile, the Houthi deputy foreign minister warned that the United States and Britain would face severe repercussions for what he termed a blatant act of aggression.

Hussein al-Ezzi said that Yemen was targeted in a “massive aggressive assault” by US and UK warships and fighter aircraft.

“Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines, and warplanes, and America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” al-Ezzi said.

The Houthi rebel group took control over parts of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, in 2014, consolidating power across the northern part of the country.

The British Royal Air Force conducted targeted strikes against military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement on Thursday.

The decision was made in response to the militia’s recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, he said, which posed a threat to UK and international ships and caused significant disruptions to vital trade routes.

Sunak emphasized the Houthi rebels’ continued disregard for international warnings and their persistent attacks in the Red Sea, including recent incidents against UK and US warships.

“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week,” Sunak said.

Sunak said that the United Kingdom took limited, necessary, and proportionate action in collaboration with the United States, receiving non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada, and Bahrain.

The strikes aimed to degrade Houthi military capabilities and safeguard global shipping, he said.

The Royal Navy remains actively engaged in patrolling the Red Sea as part of the multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is aimed at deterring further Houthi aggression, Sunak added.

Sunak urged the Houthi rebels to cease their attacks and take steps to de-escalate the situation.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the joint strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen were “intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthis’ capabilities to endanger mariners and threaten global trade.”

The strikes targeted the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed surface vessel, land-attack cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities, Austin said in a statement.

Austin made the comments while he remains in hospital for complications following surgery to treat prostate cancer.

Houthi officials said the airstrikes launched by the United States and British militaries Thursday night hit several locations in Yemen, including airports.

These are the locations hit by the strikes, according to the Iran-backed group:

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College on January 5, in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. 

US President Joe Biden said strikes by the United States and United Kingdom against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen are “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”

“These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” the president said in a statement Thursday.

He said the strikes were carried out by the US and the UK with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, according to the statement.

Biden said the attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have had a wide impact, affecting commercial shipping from more than 50 countries.

“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” Biden said, adding that he will “not hesitate” to take further measures.

The Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping on Tuesday marked the final straw for US President Joe Biden giving the green light to the US to move forward with what culminated in the attacks tonight against the Houthis in Yemen, though preparations have been ongoing for some time, a senior US official told CNN.

On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

The official said Thursday night that US vessels were among the targets on Tuesday. 

There were no ships damaged in the attacks and no injuries as a result of the massive drone and missile launch, CENTCOM said.

The Pentagon (US Department of Defense) in Washington, DC.

The United States and the United Kingdom military hit more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday, a US official told CNN. The locations were chosen for their ability to degrade the Houthis continued attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, the official said.

These included radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, ballistic missile storage and launch sites, and cruise missile storage and launch sites.

The US fired the missiles from aircraft, ships and a submarine, according to US officials.

The submarine was the USS Florida, which entered the Red Sea on November 23, an official told CNN. Like the surface ships that participated in the attack, the sub fired Tomahawk land-attack missiles, they said.

The attacks were conducted by the US and the UK, another US official said. Multiple other nations supported the effort, according to another official.

This post has been updated with details about the US submarine involved in the attack.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed reporting to this post.

The US and British military have launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, government officials told CNN late Thursday.

They mark a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Here’s what we know about the Houthis and why they are getting involved in the war.

Read more about Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

A still from a video shows multiple explosions in Saada province, north of Sanaa, Yemen, on January 12, local time.

The United States and United Kingdom launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, officials from each country told CNN. The strikes were from fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles. 

The strikes are a sign of the growing international alarm over the threat to one of the world’s most critical waterways.

Senior administration officials briefed congressional leadership earlier Thursday on the US plans, according to a congressional source.

For weeks, the US had sought to avoid direct strikes on Yemen because of the risk of escalation in a region already simmering with tension, and the concern of potentially upsetting a delicate ceasefire between the militant group and Saudi Arabia that was achieved after years of war.

But the White House had made clear the repeated Houthi attacks on international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea were intolerable. 

Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen.

In a speech Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul Malek Al-Houthi said any US attack on Yemen ”will not go unanswered,” cryptically warning that the response will be “much more” than attacking US ships in the sea.

This post has been updated with information about the UK’s participation in the strikes.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak talks to an audience at a PM Connect event at Accrington Stanley Football Club on January 8, in Accrington, England. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is holding a full cabinet call on Thursday evening amid speculation that the United Kingdom, the United States and Western allies could take military action against Houthi rebels following attacks in the Red Sea, according to UK’s PA Media. 

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron was seen entering the office of the prime minister shortly before 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET), according to PA media. 

It is understood that opposition leader Keir Starmer and shadow defense secretary John Healey will be briefed after the call, the outlet said.

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned on Wednesday the Iranian-backed group to “watch this space” if disruptions continue in the key shipping route and that further action would be taken if attacks persist.  

“Yesterday saw the largest attack on a Royal Navy warship in decades,” Shapps said in a post on X on Wednesday.
“The successful destruction of seven incoming attack drones was a powerful demonstration of the expertise, bravery and leadership of all sailors aboard and an undeniable display of the importance of the entire Royal Navy in keeping Britain safe from growing threats,” he added. 

CNN reached out to the Downing Street press office Thursday evening, but the press office said it won’t comment on reports about a possible meeting or UK military action. 

Inside the Scottish National Party (SNP): Politicians have been advocating to recall parliament if the UK government is preparing to take military action against the Houthis before Monday.

“The UK does not have a good record of military intervention in the Middle East. It is therefore incumbent that Westminster is recalled, MPs briefed and allowed to debate and scrutinise any decision to pursue military action that the UK Government is proposing,” Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf said on X. 

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, also said on social media that “it is incumbent upon the UK Government to appraise Parliament as soon as possible and MPs must therefore be recalled to Westminster.”

“Based solely upon media reports this is quite clearly a very complex and serious situation that is developing at speed,” Flynn said. 

Dozens of people were killed in Gaza following a series of Israeli airstrikes in the southern part of the enclave in the last 24 hours, several officials said.

In the early hours of Wednesday, an airstrike targeting a house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, killed seven people and injured at least 25 others, the Al-Nasser Medical Complex said.

“You are seeing us passing away every day. And there is a question: How many of us have to die that this war will end?” Dr. Ahmad Al Moghrabi, a surgeon at the facility, said in a video obtained by CNN.

Several civil defense and medical personnel were also injured after an Israeli airstrike that struck a residential building near the hospital, Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement. Videos obtained by CNN show civil defense crew members being treated inside the medical center.

Also near Khan Younis, six people were killed and brought to the European Hospital on a “horse cart,” the hospital said.

In another incident, journalist Khader Zaanoun, who is in Gaza City, told CNN that he spoke with a doctor at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Dr. Mu’taz Salah told him that Israeli army snipers fired at hundreds of civilians on the coastal Haroun Al-Rasheed road, in the Sheikh Ajleen area west of the city. 

At least five people were killed and 21 others were injured, Zaanoun said.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment regarding allegations they have targeted rescue personnel. The IDF has also not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the incidents in Khan Younis and Gaza City.

A rising death toll: The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 from Israeli attacks as of Wednesday is at least 23,469, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said. CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures due to limited access to the area.

A White House official discussed efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza with the newly appointed United Nations Gaza aid coordinator on Thursday.

Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer expressed “strong U.S. support” for Sigrid Kaag and her new role, according to a readout from the White House.

The officials “discussed mutual efforts to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in Gaza, as well as steps that can more sustainably meet the needs of Gazan civilians in the longer term,” the readout said.

Kaag was named to the position in December after it was created through a UN Security Council vote.

She was finance minister and deputy prime minister of the Netherlands before resigning her position to join the UN effort in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers show journalists an underground tunnel where the Israeli military claims it found evidence hostages were held by Hamas in Khan Younis, Gaza, on January 10.

The Israel Defense Forces said a tunnel it uncovered beneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis was used by Hamas to hold Israeli hostages.

The tunnel was connected to an underground system of other tunnels beneath a civilian area in Khan Younis and had “ventilation systems, electrical supply and plumbing,” the IDF said in a statement Thursday.

“After investigating the tunnel, it can be confirmed that Israeli hostages had been inside the tunnel,” the IDF said. The statement added that Israeli forces found more than 300 tunnel shafts, “some leading to significant tunnels, tactical shafts, and underground areas which are used as weapons storage facilities and combat areas.”

CNN cannot independently confirm hostages were held in those tunnels.

Some background: A CNN team was taken into a tunnel under Khan Younis by the IDF earlier this week. The journalists went down multiple sets of stairs and saw a small room in the underground tunnels, and a functional bathroom about 20 meters (roughly 65 feet) underground.

The Israeli military has previously released statements on the discovery of Hamas-made tunnels, which Hamas called “an integral part of the resistance.”

In another IDF statement on Thursday, the Israeli military said thousands of tons of concrete and metal were used to build hundreds of kilometers of underground tunnels in the enclave. CNN cannot independently verify this claim.

Israeli security forces examine a road hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Thursday.

Hezbollah says it has launched “dozens of rockets” toward northern Israel on Thursday in response to Israeli strikes that killed two paramedics in Lebanon.

The Iran-backed group — which has one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East — said its strikes on the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, near the Lebanese border, were also in support of the “steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

The Lebanese Civil Defense said two of its members were killed in the earlier attack on an ambulance in Hanin, according to the country’s state news agency NNA.

What Israel says: The Israel Defense Forces said it identified 10 launches from Lebanon toward Israel, with sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona and the nearby community of Margaliot. Three of those were intercepted, the military said.

“In addition, earlier today (Thursday), a number of launches toward Israeli territory were identified. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire,” the IDF statement said.

Israel said its military also struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including “military sites, a military post, and terrorist infrastructure,” as well as a number of other areas in Lebanon.

Newly recruited Houthi fighters watch a recorded lecture on Israel and the Jews by the Houthi movement's top leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, during a ceremony at the end of their training in Sanaa, Yemen, on January 11.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said that any United States aggression against Yemen “will not go unanswered,” amid fears that the rebel group’s attacks could escalate Israel’s war against Hamas into a wider regional conflict. 

Al-Houthi said in a speech on Thursday that the response from the group will be “much greater” than this week’s barrage of drones and missiles on the Red Sea. 

The leader said that Yemen is ready “to confront American aggression” and criticized US and United Kingdom support for Israel, stating it “will not deter” Yemen’s actions. 

Al-Houthi said the strategy in preventing Israeli-linked ships from traversing the Red Sea has been effective, citing the recent American attack on the Houthis’ navy as evidence of this impact. 

Furthermore, al-Houthi accused the US and the UK of trying to involve other countries in the confrontation against Yemen, warning that those who target Yemen and its naval forces risk their maritime safety and commercial shipping interests. 

“Those who want to get involved and attack our people and target the naval forces are risking their maritime safety and their commercial ships,” al-Houthi said. 

Some background: The Iran-backed Houthis began launching the attacks soon after the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, claiming they were targeting ships with ties to Israel as they stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people. 

On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling on the group to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea, as the United States and Britain hinted at military strikes.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during a meeting Thursday that the UK would “continue to take action to defend freedom of navigation and protect lives at sea,” according to a statement from Downing Street.

The warnings come as the militants continue a weeks-long campaign to launch drones and missiles at vessels in the commercially vital shipping lane, which they say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

That continued Thursday, when the US Defense Department said the rebels fired an anti-ship missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden. A commercial vessel reported seeing the missile hit the water, and there were no injuries or damage, according to a US spokesperson.

This post has been updated with information about another missile fired by Houthi rebels and new remarks from the British prime minister on Thursday.

CNN’s Max Foster, Michael Conte and Oren Liebermann contributed reporting to this post.

There is a clear and “attractive” path toward peace in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he wrapped up his latest multi-nation visit to the region, which came amid fears the Israel-Hamas fighting could spark a wider regional conflict.

The path includes assured security for Israel, isolating and marginalizing Iran, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, he said, adding that these things are tied together.

It will be up to the governments in the region to commit to such a path, Blinken said.

“All of which, I believe countries are prepared to do. And it’s also the best way to address the most fundamental security concern that Israel and many others have, which are the actions that Iran and its proxies have taken,” he told reporters in Cairo before his flight back to the United States.

The top US diplomat also insisted that his visit to the region resulted in concrete steps toward ending the conflict in Gaza. “First, an agreement by Israel to have the United Nations send an assessment team to the north of Gaza to look at the conditions that would be necessary to start to get people moving back to the north,” he said. “Second, we have a commitment from the Palestinian Authority to issue meaningful reform.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the media before boarding his plane to return to Washington, in Cairo, Egypt, on January 11.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the Israel-Hamas war is not ramping up into a broader regional conflict, but he did admit that there were “danger points.”

“I don’t think the conflict is escalating,” Blinken said. “There are lots of danger points. We’re trying to deal with each of them.”

Here’s what he detailed:

He also said that efforts were underway to end the fighting in Gaza, but that Israel had to ensure that October 7, 2023, doesn’t happen again. “We also want to see this conflict come to an end, and until it does, to make sure that humanitarian assistance goes up for people who need it,” he added.  

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said in a statement to CNN that the seizure of a crude tanker by the Iranian army on Thursday does not constitute hijacking, but is rather a “lawful undertaking sanctioned by a court order.”

A vessel was boarded Thursday by at least four armed people in the Gulf of Oman and has diverted its course toward Iranian territorial waters, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

The ship’s company security officer reported hearing unknown voices over the phone, after which communications with the vessel were lost, UKMTO said. The reported seizure happened early Thursday morning (around 10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday) in waters between Iran and Oman.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-associated media outlet Tasnim News Agency said that Iran had seized the tanker and is transferring it to an Iranian port, in retaliation for the United States confiscating the same vessel and its oil last year.

Tasnim cited a statement from the Iranian Navy saying the seizure came after an order from an Iranian court.

“This tanker whose name was changed to ST Nicholas and carrying oil in the Oman sea was seized in retaliation for the theft of oil by the American regime, with an order from the judicial courts, and is being transferred to ports of the Islamic Republic to be delivered to the judicial authorities,” it said.

A maritime monitoring website, Tanker Trackers, said the vessel seized was a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker named St Nikolas, formerly known as the Suez Rajan.

The Suez Rajan, which was at the center of a dispute between the United States and Iran, was seized by the US government last year after a court found that it was used to “covertly sell and transport Iranian oil to a customer abroad,” the US Department of Justice said in a press release. 

The seizing of the vessel was described by the Iranian mission to the UN as “a lawful undertaking sanctioned by a court order”. They said it “corresponds to the theft of Iran’s very own oil. Adhering to the established legal procedures is the most prudent approach for the resolution of this matter.”

Some context: There are international concerns that the conflict in Gaza could spill into the wider Middle East region.

Adding to this concern is the actions of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who are stepping up their strikes on ships in the Red Sea, which they say is revenge against Israel for its military campaign on Hamas in Gaza.

On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

The attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes, which could potentially cause a shock to the global economy.

CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi contributed to this reporting.

South Africa's Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, center, and Palestinian assistant Minister of Multilateral Affairs Ammar Hijazi, third right, address the media outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

South Africa’s justice minister said the case it has taken to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza affords the court the opportunity to “act in real time” to prevent what he described as genocide “continuing in Gaza.”

Addressing journalists outside the steps of the Peace Palace in The Hague after South Africa concluded its oral arguments at the hearing on Thursday, Ronald Lamola said he hoped the case would be “impactful” to the people of Gaza. 

“This case presents the court with an opportunity to act in real time to prevent genocide from continuing in Gaza by issuing an urgent injunction,” Lamola said. 

Lamola expressed his hope that the case will deter Israeli soldiers in Gaza from continuing their actions, saying they may realize that they may be called individually before the court one day. 

The justice minister told journalists that South Africa had presented a “compelling argument” to the court based on facts and “jurisprudence.” 

He said his government had faith that the judges of court would be able to “exercise professionally” in reaching a decision. 

He also strongly refuted a claim from Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat that South Africa is the “legal arm” of Hamas, stressing that the South African delegation only has a mandate from the South African government.

“Our case also is not against the Jews as a people. Our case is against the actions of the State of Israel, the actions of genocide that are committed in Gaza,” Lamola said.

Bassem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, welcomed the first session of the International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, convened at South Africa’s request, in a statement on Thursday.

“We look forward to the court issuing a decision that does justice to victims, by calling 2 stop the aggression & holding war criminals accountable,” Naim said in a written statement published on Hamas’ website on Thursday. 

More context: Throughout today’s ICJ hearing, South Africa stressed that it condemned the attacks on civilians and taking of hostages by Hamas on October 7.

Addressing the various charges of hypocrisy that have been laid against South Africa, including why it has not also brought a charge of genocide against Hamas, Vaughan Lowe, one of South Africa’s lawyers, said this is a matter for the International Criminal Court – and not the ICJ.

“Hamas is not a state and cannot be a party to the genocide convention, and cannot be a party to these proceedings,” Lowe said.

The ICJ hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their United Nations treaty obligations, whereas the ICC tries individuals for crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed reporting to this post.

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has expressed its support for South Africa’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, calling a “historic event” in the “joint struggle against perceived injustice and genocide.” 

In a written statement published on Thursday, the ministry emphasized that a central focus of the Palestinian legal and diplomatic strategy is to hold Israel accountable through legal avenues and international justice institutions.

That sentiment was echoed by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also expressed its support for South Africa’s stance and its efforts to bring the case to the ICJ, according to a statement published on the state news agency NNA on Thursday.

Both Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority’s ministries accused Israel of committing crimes that amount to genocide.

“The ministry expresses its aspiration for a just and quick ruling that protect the human rights laws, especially international humanitarian law,” the Lebanese foreign ministry statement said. 

The Palestinian Authority ministry concluded its statement by expressing its “confidence” in the legal advocacy presented by South Africa against Israel at the court on Thursday. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized South Africa in response to the International Court of Justice case that South Africa brought forth accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Today we were witness to one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history, compounded by a series of false and baseless claims,” Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for the ministry, said on X, formerly Twitter.

Haiat accused South Africa of “functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas” and ignoring the massacre carried out by the militant group in Israel on October 7.

“South Africa seeks to allow Hamas to return to commit the war crimes,” Haiat claimed.

What South Africa argued: South Africa has “unequivocally condemned” Hamas attacks, Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola said in court. But, he said, the oppression of Palestinian people did not just begin following the Hamas attacks, arguing it has been ongoing for years. While discussing Israel’s air strikes in Gaza since October 7, one of South Africa’s representatives, Adila Hassim, said Palestinians in Gaza have “been killed if they have failed to evacuate, in the places to which they have fled, and even while they have attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”

“Israel’s special genocidal intent is rooted in the belief that in fact the enemy is not just the military wing of Hamas, or indeed Hamas generally, but is embedded in the fabric of Palestinian life in Gaza,” said Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, another lawyer representing South Africa.

While South Africa outlined its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, here are some other developments happening in Gaza and the wider region as Israel continues its war against Hamas.

Top US diplomat meets Egyptian president: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went from Tel Aviv to Cairo to meet President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He is going to head back to the United States after concluding his multi-nation trip in the Middle East to address the Israel-Hamas war and concerns about a wider regional conflict.

Latest on Houthi attacks: The UN Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to cease their “brazen” attacks in the Red Sea as the United States warned the Iran-backed militants would face “consequences” for their actions. The attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes, which could potentially cause a shock to the global economy. The Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran, and there are fears that their attacks could escalate Israel’s war against Hamas into a wider regional conflict. Read more about what we know about them.

South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela looks on as judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hear a request for emergency measures by South Africa in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

South Africa has now finished presenting its case. Israel, which has denied the allegations, will respond on Friday.

Mr Vusi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Hague ended day one of the hearing by detailing the country’s requests for provisional measures.

He requested the measures be considered “as a matter of extreme urgency”.

Among the provisional measures requested include:

South Africa posed a challenge to the International Court of Justice’s panel of judges, saying it is “hard to think of a case in recent history that has been so important for the future of international law.”

Towards the end of South Africa’s three-hour oral argument, Vaughan Lowe, one of the lawyers representing it, said now “is not a moment for the court to sit back and be silent,” and that its decision would have a bearing on the future of the court itself.

Lowe asked the court to grant provisional measures ordering Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza, to prevent further abuses of the rights of Palestinians while the court considers the full merits of the case.

“Israel says that Palestine and Palestinians are not its target, that its aim is to destroy Hamas. But months of continuous bombing, flattening entire residential blocks, and cutting off food and water and electricity and communications to an entire population, cannot credibly be argued to be a manhunt for members of Hamas,” Lowe said.

Addressing the various charges of hypocrisy that have been laid against South Africa, including why it has not also brought a charge of genocide against Hamas, Lowe explained this is a matter for the International Criminal Court – and not the ICJ.

“Hamas is not a state and cannot be a party to the genocide convention, and cannot be a party to these proceedings,” Lowe said. Whereas the ICJ hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations, the ICC tries individuals for crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Lowe concluded by summarizing South Africa’s argument.

“South Africa believes that the publicly available evidence of the scale of the destruction resulting from the bombardment of Gaza, and the deliberate restriction of food, water, medicines and electricity available to the population of Gaza, demonstrates that the government of Israel… is intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, and is doing nothing to prevent or punish the actions of others who support that aim.”

He stressed “the point is not simply that Israel is acting disproportionately – the point is the the prohibition on genocide is an absolute.”

Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh has addressed the court, outlining previous times the ICJ has implemented provisional measures to stop a country from committing genocide.

Among the cases Ní Ghrálaigh cited were when The Gambia accused Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya Muslims and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

“Madame President, members of the court, if the indication of provisional measures was justified on the facts in those cases that I have cited, how could it not be here? In a situation of much greater severity where the imminent risk of irreparable harm is so much greater?

“The imminent risk of death, harm and destruction that Palestinians in Gaza face today, and that they risk every day during the pendency of these proceedings on any view justifies, indeed compels the indication of provisional measures,” she argued.

Ní Ghrálaigh continued to say that the international community had “repeatedly failed. It failed the people of Rwanda. It failed the Bosnian people and the Rohingya, prompting this court to take action. It failed again by ignoring the early warnings of the grave risk of genocide to the Palestinian people sounded by international experts since October 19 last year.”

“The international community continues to fail the Palestinian people, despite the overt, dehumanizing, genocidal rhetoric by Israeli governmental and military officials, matched by the Israeli army’s actions on the ground,” she said.

As a part of her closing remarks, Ní Ghrálaigh says “the world should be ashamed” by the situation in Gaza.

She shared two photographs with the court.

One is from a hospital in northern Gaza and has the words “whoever stays until the end, will tell the story, we did what we could. Remember us.”

She then showed a photo of the destroyed whiteboard after it was hit by an Israeli missile, killing the note’s author.

The International Court of Justice is in the first of its two-day hearing of proceedings brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

It is an unprecedented case. Experts say it is the first time that the Jewish state is being tried under the United Nations’ Genocide Convention, which was drawn up after the Second World War in light of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

What’s the case? South Africa is taking Israel to the ICJ, also known as the World Court, on claims that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and failing to prevent and punish genocide. South Africa is outlining its case today, and Israel will defend itself on Friday.

What does Israel say? Israel has firmly rejected the accusation, calling it an “absurd blood libel.” President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday there was “nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than South Africa’s claim.

Israel will present a case “using self-defense,” he said, to show that it is doing its “utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avert civilian casualties in Gaza in its war against Hamas. 

What does South Africa want? South Africa says Israel’s acts in Gaza are genocidal “because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”

South Africa has asked the court to issue “provisional measures” ordering Israel to stop its war, which it said was “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.” A provisional measure is a temporary order to halt actions, or an injunction, pending a final ruling.

A ruling on genocide could take years to prove, but the injunction on the Gaza war that Pretoria has asked the ICJ for could come much sooner.

What’s happened in court so far? South Africa’s Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola said that “South Africa unequivocally condemned the targeting of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinians and groups, and the taking of hostages on the 7th of October 2023.”

But, he argued, “no armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious … even an attack involving atrocity crimes can provide any justification for, or defense to, breaches to the convention,” adding that “Israel’s response to the 7th of October 2023 attack has crossed this line and gives rise to the breaches of the convention.”

Adila Hassim, one of the advocates representing South Africa, said Palestinians in Gaza have “been killed if they have failed to evacuate, in the places to which they have fled, and even while they have attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”

The level of Israel’s killing is so extensive that nowhere is safe in Gaza,” she said, adding that the destruction was “beyond any acceptable legal – let alone humane – justification.”

Another lawyer representing South Africa, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, said there was an “extraordinary feature” in this case: “Israel’s political leaders, military commanders, and persons holding official positions, have systematically and in explicit terms declared their genocidal intent.”

He referenced statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

He said these statements “are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza.”

People sit inside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

South Africa has argued that if the International Court of Justice refuses to grant emergency measures in its genocide case against Israel, the court would “treat Palestinians differently, as less worthy of protection than others.”

It wants the court to order a halt in Israel’s Gaza campaign, something the court could rule on in a matter of weeks.

Max du Plessis, one of the advocates representing South Africa, cited various cases in which the ICJ has granted “provisional measures” in order to protect the rights of peoples around the world.

In January 2020, the court granted The Gambia’s request for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya people remaining in Myanmar from Genocide. The Court has granted similar measures to protect Ukrainians from ongoing Russian aggression, and Bosnians during the Balkan Wars in the 1990s.

South Africa has argued that the rights of Palestinians must be protected “from imminent and irreparable loss” while the court considers the full merit of the case, which could take years.

South Africa has stressed throughout the hearing that the Court need only to decide that Israel’s actions are “plausibly genocidal” for it to grant provisional measures.

“It is not necessary for the court to come to a final view on the question of whether Israel’s conduct constitutes genocide. It is necessary to establish only whether at least some of the acts alleged are capable of falling within the provisions of the convention,” Adila Hassim argued earlier.

“It is clear that at least some, if not all, of these acts fall within the convention’s provisions,” she said.

British jurist Malcom Shaw, center, legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry Tal Becker, left, and Israel's deputy attorney-general for international law Gilad Noam look on as judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hear a request for emergency measures by South Africa in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

If you are just joining us, South Africa has been laying out its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The hearing has paused for a coffee break but will resume shortly.

A reminder - South Africa will outline its case today and Israel will defend itself on Friday.

Israel has reacted furiously to the case, calling it an “absurd blood libel.”

Its President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday there was “nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than South Africa’s claim.

Israel will present a case “using self-defense,” he said, to show that it is doing its “utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avert civilian casualties in Gaza. 

Ngcukaitobi went on to say there was an “extraordinary feature” in this case: “Israel’s political leaders, military commanders, and persons holding official positions, have systematically and in explicit terms declared their genocidal intent.”

He said these statements “are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza.”

“Israel’s special genocidal intent is rooted in the belief that in fact the enemy is not just the military wing of Hamas, or indeed Hamas generally, but is embedded in the fabric of Palestinian life in Gaza,” Ngcukaitobi claimed.

He cited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Israeli forces on October 28, ahead of the imminent launch of its ground offensive in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28.

“Remember what Amalek did to you,” Netanyahu said in his address, which Ngcukaitobi told the court “refers to a Biblical command by God to Saul for the retaliatory destruction of an entire group of people known as the Amalekites.”

Ngcukaitobi cited a verse from the book of Samuel also referring to the Amalekites. “Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys,” reads the verse.

Ngcukaitobi then referenced quotes from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“On 9 October, the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gave a situation update to the army where he said that as Israel was imposing a complete siege on Gaza there would be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything would be closed. Because Israel is fighting ‘human animals,’” Ngcukaitobi told the court.

Ngcukaitobi continued: “Speaking to troops on the Gaza border he instructed them that he has released “all the restraints” and that Gaza won’t return to what it was before.”

“We will eliminate everything. We will reach all places,” Ngcukaitobi quoted Gallant as saying.

Another lawyer representing South Africa, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, is now addressing the court.

He argues that South Africa is “not alone in drawing attention to Israel’s genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians in Gaza.”

“Israel has a genocidal intent against the Palestinians in Gaza,” Ngcukaitobi told the court.

“That is evident in the way in which Israel’s military attack is being conducted, which has been described by Ms Hasim.”

“It is systematic in its character and form. The mass displacement of the population of Gaza, headed into areas where they continue to be killed and the deliberate creation of conditions that quote — lead to a slow death — unquote.”

South Africa has been providing evidence it said shows a “pattern of genocidal conduct” by Israel.

Adila Hassim, one of the advocates representing South Africa, said Israel’s “actions show a systematic pattern of conduct from which genocide can be inferred.”

In an 84-page filing to the ICJ, South Africa cited evidence it said showed Israel is committing genocide by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing serious mental and bodily harm, forced evacuations, widespread hunger, and by creating conditions “calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” 

Hassim discussed some of the evidence presented by South Africa in its filing, including Israel’s air strikes in Gaza.

She said Palestinians in Gaza have “been killed if they have failed to evacuate, in the places to which they have fled, and even while they have attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”

Hassim also cited videos and images she said showed Israeli soldiers “joyfully detonating entire apartment blocks and town squares, erecting the Israeli flag over the wreckage, seeking to reestablish Israeli settlements on the rubble of Palestinian homes, and thus extinguishing the very basis of Palestinian life in Gaza.”

She also cited experts who have claimed that more may die in Gaza because of disease and starvation than because of Israeli air strikes.

South Africa Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola, left, and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela attend the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ahead of the hearing of the genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa, in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

Addressing the court, South Africa’s Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola said the oppression of Palestinian people did not begin following the Hamas attacks, arguing it has been ongoing for years. 

“In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the air space, territorial waters, land crossing, water, electricity and civilian infrastructure.”

He said that “South Africa unequivocally condemned the targeting of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinians and groups, and the taking of hostages on the 7th of October 2023.”

But, he argued, “no armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious… even an attack involving atrocity crimes can provide any justification for, or defense to, breaches to the convention. Whether it is a matter of law or morality.

“Israel’s response to the 7th of October 2023 attack has crossed this line and gives rise to the breaches of the convention,” he told the court.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 others hostage.

Its president said Israel plans to argue it is acting in self-defense when it responds to South Africa on Friday.

A reminder: The ICJ, established in 1945, is the United Nations’ top court and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it. The convention automatically grants the ICJ jurisdiction over signatory states. 

South Africa said it “recognized the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian people,” in opening remarks made Thursday at the International Court of Justice hearing in its genocide case against Israel.

“Nakba,” or catastrophe, is the Arabic term for the expulsion of Palestinians from their towns during the founding of Israel.

Vusi Mandonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, said his country “places Israel’s genocidal acts and omissions within the broader context of Israel’s 25-year apartheid, 76-year occupation, and 16-year siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.”

South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“South Africa has recognized the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian people through Israel’s colonization since 1948, which has systematically and forcibly dispossessed, displaced and fragmented the Palestinian people, deliberately denying them their internationally recognized, inalienable right to self-determination and their internationally recognized right of return as refugees to their towns and villages in what is now the state of Israel,” Mandonsela said.

Mandonsela said Israel’s allegedly genocidal acts in Gaza “inevitably form part of a continuum of illegal acts perpetrated against the Palestinian people since 1948.”

He also accused Israel of “subjecting the Palestinian people to apartheid.”

South Africa, which operated under a system of apartheid from 1948 until the early 1990s, has long championed the Palestinian cause.

People sit inside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

The International Court of Justice has begun its hearing in the proceedings brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The judges representing Israel and South Africa have been sworn in.

Aharon Bharak, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor and retired Supreme Court Justice, is representing Israel.

Dikgang Moseneke, a former deputy chief justice, is representing South Africa.

We will bring you updates as they happen.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators call for a ceasefire in a protest outside Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11, where the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings in a genocide case against Israel.

Dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague ahead of Israel’s genocide hearing.

Many waved Palestinian flags while others held signs.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators call for a ceasefire in a protest outside Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11, where the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings in a genocide case against Israel.

A general view of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

Israel will appear at the International Court of Justice today to defend itself against a genocide case, brought by South Africa.

South Africa accuses Israel of being “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” in its application and argues that “acts and omissions by Israel … are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”

Israel has rejected South Africa’s claims and application to the world court, saying through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs that South Africa “is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel, and that its “claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis.”

South Africa has filed its claim to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), not the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICJ is the main legal arm of the United Nations. It is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, and was set up by the UN in 1945. It is a civil court, and seeks to settle disputes between States.

Conversely, the ICC is a permanent, autonomous court — not affiliated with the United Nations — that prosecutes individuals.

The court only has the ability to prosecute individuals who have ratified the Rome Statute — which gives it jurisdiction — or if a crime has taken place within a country that is a signatory.

Israel doesn’t recognize the ICC so the court has no jurisdiction over it. Israel however is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, which gives the ICJ jurisdiction.

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it killed multiple militants in Gaza as it thwarted an alleged terrorist cell.

Three operatives carrying assault rifles were killed by Israeli aircraft as they exited a tunnel shaft in Al-Maghazi, central Gaza, the IDF said in a statement.

Israeli troops located “numerous weapons in the residence of one of the terrorist’s families,” the statement said. A photo provided by the IDF showed a rocket launcher with several rockets and various explosives laid out on the ground inside a room.

Israeli snipers killed eight other militants heading toward a nearby school allegedly used for terrorism, the IDF said.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Khan Younis, the IDF said its aircraft killed three militants as they exited a weapons compound. It did not specify whether the fighters killed in Al-Maghazi and Khan Younis belonged to the same cell.

Four other militants were killed nearby in a position where anti-tank missiles were earlier fired at Israeli troops, the IDF said.

Death toll: More than 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, about two-thirds of whom are women and children, and nearly 60,000 others injured, according to Palestinian authorities. CNN cannot confirm the figures.

Israel dismissed the case as “absurd blood libel,” and government spokesperson Eylon Levy said it is “tragic that the rainbow nation that prides itself on fighting racism will be fighting pro-bono for the anti-Jewish racists.” 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday there was “nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than South Africa’s claim. Israel will present a case “using self-defense,” he said, to show that it is doing its “utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avert civilian casualties in Gaza. 

Citing an Israeli diplomatic cable, Axios reported that Israel has mobilized its diplomats to lobby host nations to back its position and create international pressure against the case. Its “strategic goal,” it said, is for the court to reject the request for an injunction, refrain from accusing Israel of committing genocide, and acknowledge that it is operating according to international law. 

The United States backs Israel’s position. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that the case is “meritless” and distracts from efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and prevent the war from spreading. 

There is however concern in Europe that Israel may have broken international law in its war. During a question-and-answer session with British lawmakers on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he was worried that Israel might have breached international law, and that the advice he had received so far was that Israel was compliant but there were questions to answer. 

“Am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law, because this particular premises has been bombed, or whatever? Yes, of course,” Cameron said. 

Slovenia’s foreign minister Tanja Fajon told CNN’s Isa Soares on Tuesday that Israel has “definitely” breached international humanitarian law in Gaza. “That is clear, and it’s very worrisome,” she said, adding that the world has “failed on tests of humanity.”

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a four-day ceasefire took effect, on November 24, 2023.

The South African government, a successor to the apartheid regime that was made a pariah on the international stage three decades ago, brought the case against Israel, accusing it of breaching its obligations under the genocide convention in its war on Hamas in Gaza. 

South Africa has asked the court to indicate “provisional measures” to protect the rights of Palestinians in Gaza “from imminent and irreparable loss.” 

Provisional measures function as a kind of restraining order to stop a dispute from escalating while the full case progresses through the court, which could take years. 

For provisional measures the court has only to decide if prima facie, or “at first glance,” it has jurisdiction, and if the acts complained of could fall within the provisions of the Genocide Convention. South Africa alleges some of the acts committed by Israel are “plainly capable” of doing so. 

South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza. But even if the court does find it has prima facie jurisdiction, the provisional measures it decides would not necessarily be those requested by South Africa. 

Could the request be granted? The ICJ has in the past granted similar requests. In December 2019, it held hearings on The Gambia’s request for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya people remaining in Myanmar from genocide. The measures were unanimously adopted in January 2020, and Myanmar was ordered to prevent all genocidal acts against the Rohingya, preserve evidence related to the case, and provide regular reports on its compliance with the provisional measures. 

Countries are unable to appeal the rulings but the ICJ has no way of enforcing them. A 2022 report by Human Rights Watch found continued abuses against the Rohingya remaining in Myanmar, despite the provisional measures.  

Similarly, despite the court in March 2022 ordering Russia to immediately suspend its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s war rages on nearly two years later. 

While an ICJ ruling against Israel may fail to constrain its military action, it could land a serious blow to Israel’s international reputation. Israel has argued that its war against Hamas complies with international law, which gives states the right of self-defense, provided the force they use is necessary and proportionate. 

A girl looks on as she stands by the rubble outside of a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah, southern Gaza, on October 31, 2023.

The International Court of Justice is set to open a two-day hearing in proceedings brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which could lead the court to order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the enclave. 

The ICJ, established in 1945, is the United Nations’ top court and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it. The convention automatically grants the ICJ jurisdiction over signatory states. 

In an 84-page filing to the ICJ, South Africa argued that Israel is committing genocide by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing serious mental and bodily harm, forced evacuation, widespread hunger, and by creating conditions “calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” 

“Israel has engaged in and failed to prevent or to punish acts and measures which are genocidal, constituting flagrant violations of Israel’s obligations,” the filing said. It also accused Israel of failing to stem incitement to genocide in public pronouncements by its officials. 

The UN defines genocide as an act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The UN says that it was developed “partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust.” 

The ICJ’s 15-judge panel, which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, has been expanded by an additional judge from each side in this case. Israel will be represented by retired Supreme Court justice Aharon Barak, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, and South Africa by Dikgang Moseneke, the country’s former deputy chief justice. 

South Africa is scheduled to present its oral arguments on Thursday and Israel the next day. 

After the hearing concludes Friday, it could be days or weeks before the judges issue a decision on the emergency measures. Israel will be able to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and could seek to have the case thrown out. 

Israel is set to appear before the International Court of Justice on Thursday in a high-stakes case that could determine the course of the brutal war in Gaza.

South Africa is taking Israel to the ICJ, also known as the World Court, on claims that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and failing to prevent genocide.

Israel has called the case a “blood libel,” a thinly veiled accusation of antisemitism.

Here’s what else you need to know:

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebel group to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea, as the United States and Britain hinted at military strikes.

The warnings come as the Iran-backed militants continue a weeks-long campaign to launch drones and missiles at vessels in the commercially vital shipping lane, which they say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

The UN Security Council vote was 11 in favor, 0 against, and four abstentions, including Russia and China.

Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks, as he makes a diplomatic tour of the region to try to cool tensions.

The US and other nations have a number of ships in the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational effort consisting of more than 20 countries to safeguard shipping in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

US Navy warships have shot down many of the Houthi projectiles in recent weeks, including a particularly sustained barrage of attacks on Tuesday.

Region on edge: The war in Gaza has fueled fears of a wider regional conflict — with the narrow but vital Red Sea a potential flashpoint.

The UN resolution condemned some two dozen Houthi attacks on merchant vessels since November 19, when the Houthis attacked and seized the commercial vessel, Galaxy Leader.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed Iran for helping the Houthis, emphasizing that the resolution demands the group stop violating international law.

“The United States applauds today’s adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution co-penned by the United States and Japan condemning Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
“The resolution unequivocally demands that the Houthis cease their attacks and underscores the Council’s support for navigational rights and freedoms of vessels of all States in the Red Sea in accordance with international law.”

The Houthis have said they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; the group’s strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of the enclave.

Read more about the barrage of Houthi attacks.

Zaki Shaheen, a retired nurse who turned his shop into a clinic to help displaced Gazans, treats a wounded man at his makeshift clinic in Rafah, Gaza, on January 10.

Although many around the world rang in the new year earlier this month, “2024 is not a happy new year,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

This Sunday will mark 100 days since the Israel-Hamas conflict, Tedros noted, adding that “the situation is indescribable.” 

In Gaza, “People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious. Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially,” Tedros said. 
“Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges. Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need,” he said. “We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don’t have is access.”

Disruptions to the health care and water sanitation systems, the lack of food and water as well as having people displaced in the winter is “a cocktail for diseases,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.  

WHO Health Officer Dr. Teresa Zakaria, the incident manager for the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestine territories, said the agency’s surveillance systems are capturing the manifestation of diseases, but they aren’t able to verify the bacteria, parasite or virus causing the illnesses. 

“We have seen increased reports of acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, jaundice. But again, these are just manifestations of multiple diseases and we can’t get to the bottom of it because we’re not in a position to even test, collect samples and test,” she said.
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with,” she said, adding, “There are a lot of diseases that may actually just spread undetected and that is extremely concerning because by the time we actually find out about it, it will be at a very late stage for which then containing it will be extremely difficult.”

The agency canceled six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 “because our requests were rejected and assurances of safe passage were not provided,” the director-general said.

Editor’s Note: CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces’ escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join the embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for security review. CNN did not submit its final report to the IDF and retained editorial control.

On the streets of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the scars of war are clear to see.

The city’s heavily damaged buildings bear testament to some of the fiercest fighting that has taken place in the nearly 100 days since the devastating Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked Israel’s war in Gaza. In the more than three months since, at least 23,357 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers due to the difficulty of access to Gaza for international media.

But the carnage above ground tells only half the story of the Israel Defense Forces’ effort to drive out Hamas from a city it has described as a “main stronghold” of the militant group.

It is below ground, in the massive Hamas tunnel networks that the IDF says stretch for miles in all directions that its soldiers face a task with no obvious parallel in modern military history.

Dan Goldfus, IDF Division Commander, told CNN’s International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson he believes some of the more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 were held in tunnels under the heart of Khan Younis, including some of the 106 who are still believed to be in Gaza.

Some of the tunnels are 60 meters deep (nearly 200 feet), according to Goldfus. Some are wide and some narrow. Penetrating them is a notoriously dangerous task.

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Goldfus says the biggest issue facing his troops is the “multi-dimensional” nature of the fighting “on all fronts.”

He led a CNN team on a tour that illustrated the complexity of the task.

The tour took the team down a metal ladder and two flights of stairs, wiring visible all the way, to about 15 meters (50 feet) under the ground.

The CNN team descended over 20 meters (65 feet), taking steps into a complex network. Yet asked how deep this tunnel went, Goldfus replied, “This is not a very deep tunnel.”

Some, he said, are nearly three times as deep.

Branching off from the side of the tunnel CNN entered, the ceiling was so low it was impossible to stand up straight. And at the end was a small room with a metal frame around the door.

It is in small rooms like this where some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been kept, Goldfus claims.

It is a grim, unforgiving place for anyone, whether hostage or soldier, but Goldfus says the IDF will continue its fight until Hamas is eliminated.

This week, the IDF claimed to have completed the dismantling of Hamas’ command structure in northern Gaza and said it was switching its focus to southern and central Gaza.

Goldfus knows his job is far from over.

“If we give in to the Hamas, we give in to this area, you have to understand that, and I think no sovereign state would agree to such a thing,” he says.

He believes the IDF’s objectives are clear:

“The enemy has brought us, drawn us in, by slaughtering our people, and we know why we’re in here and what we’re doing very clearly. And I think that we’re here to do the job till the end.” 

Palestinians wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, on December 23, 2023.

Lack of access to food in Gaza has created a “horrific situation” for the millions of displaced residents in the Palestinian enclave, a World Health Organization official said Tuesday.

The remarks from WHO emergency coordinator Sean Casey come as multiple aid agencies warn of the risk of famine in Gaza more than three months after the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas.

In northern Gaza, there is “almost no food available and everybody we talked to begs for food,” Casey told a news briefing Tuesday.

Casey, who has carried out several WHO missions to northern Gaza, said each time his team delivered medical supplies to the region, they were asked to bring food the next time.

The United Nations’ health agency has “no communication with entire areas,” but Casey said when he meets a patient who has had a double amputation and asks for food or water, it is clear “they’re not getting their basic needs met.”

WHO has been unable to reach northern Gaza since December 26 and was forced to cancel six planned missions, according to briefing notes sent to CNN.

Many people in central Gaza are also going hungry because there is not enough food coming in, Casey said.

Even in southern Gaza, closest to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt where deliveries are received, not many people are eating a full meal a day, he said.

Hamas is no longer in control in large parts of Gaza, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Wednesday.

“Today, there is no effective Hamas rule in a large part of the Gaza Strip,” Gantz said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. “Public institutions have been destroyed. It does not provide education or medical services except through international organizations.”

Gantz also reiterated the importance of the return of all hostages abducted in the October 7 attack, saying this is the priority in every combat decision.

“If any of the abductees are watching us now, it is important for you to know — we are doing everything so that you return to your loved ones who never stop fighting for you,” he said.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Blinken’s warning comes as the Yemen based Iranian-backed militant group shows no signs of de-escalation and the potential for regional flare-up looms large.

On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

There were no ships damaged in the attacks and no injuries as a result of the massive drone and missile launch, CENTCOM said.

The Houthis have recently carried out scores of attacks and seized a commercial vessel and its crew in what they claim is retaliation for the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza. The attacks have already had consequences for the global economy as they have effectively closed one of the world’s main trade routes to most container ships.

There have been multiple signals in recent weeks that the US is considering taking more forceful military action to come in response to the Houthi attacks, even amid efforts to backchannel with Iran and the Houthis to urge them to de-escalate.

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