The latest on Israel’s war in Gaza

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International Court of Justice members are seen in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 11.

The International Court of Justice said that it will deliver its ruling Friday on whether to enact provisional measures to temporarily suspend Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to an ICJ news release published Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The ICJ is the main legal arm of the United Nations and its ruling will take place at at 1 p.m. local (7 a.m. ET).

The move comes in response to South Africa’s filing a legal action against Israel for what they allege are violations by Israel of its obligations under the “Genocide Convention.” 

South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, on claims that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and failing to prevent and punish genocide.

The hearings started on January 11. Israel has firmly rejected the accusations, calling them “false” and “grossly distorted.”

Israel, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said 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 asked the court to enforce “provisional measures” to protect the rights of Palestinians in Gaza “from imminent and irreparable loss.” 

The provisional measures would function as a kind of restraining order to stop the dispute from escalating while the full case progresses through the court, which could take years. And while the court’s rulings are final and binding, in practice it has no way of enforcing them.

A building sheltering hundreds of displaced people in southern Gaza was hit Wednesday amid intensified Israeli military attacks on Khan Younis, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, killing at least nine people and injuring 75 others. 

In a video obtained and verified by CNN showing the UNRWA facility, a building surrounded by tents and temporary shelters is seen ablaze, with plumes of thick smoke.

The White House said it is “gravely concerned” by the strike.

The Israeli military ruled out that an Israeli aerial or artillery strike hit the facility, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF said a “thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway,”

The Israeli military continues to operate in Khan Younis and the operation there will continue for “several days,” the IDF said Wednesday.

Here are other headlines you should know:

Smoke and fire is seen after a strike on a UNRWA facility in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Wednesday.

The Israeli military has ruled out that an Israeli aerial or artillery strike hit a UN facility that was housing hundreds of displaced people in Gaza’s Khan Younis, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces.

The IDF said a “thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway,” adding that it is “examining the possibility that the strike was a result of Hamas fire.”

Some background: The UN relief agency for the enclave said a building sheltering the displaced people was hit Wednesday in Khan Younis, killing at least nine and injuring 75 others.

“Buildings ablaze and mass casualties. Safe access to and from the center has been denied for two days. People are trapped,” Thomas White, director of affairs for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said on X, formerly Twitter. 

The White House says it is “gravely concerned” by a strike on a United Nations facility in Gaza that the organization’s refugee agency said led to “mass casualties.”

Watson reemphasized the US’ “support for Israel’s right to defend itself, consistent with international humanitarian law” and said the US would “continue working to increase life-saving humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to bring home all of the hostages held there.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted US warships with ballistic missiles in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait on Wednesday, a Houthi spokesperson said Wednesday.

The Yemeni group “engaged” with US warships that tried to protect two American commercial vessels, spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement. 

As a result, one of the vessels suffered a “direct hit” and the two American commercial ships were forced to turn back from the area, Saree said.

The Iran-backed Houthis have said they won’t stop their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea until the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza ends. 

Some context: US defense officials told CNN the Navy shot down two Houthi missiles fired Wednesday at the US-flagged, owned and operated M/V Maersk Detroit container ship.

The USS Gravely, which was nearby at the time, shot down two of the missiles, and one landed in the water, the officials said. There were no injuries or damage to the ship, CENTCOM said in a statement.

Dozens of displaced women and children gathered in front of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah on Wednesday, raising their hands and chanting for a ceasefire.

Draped in scarves and winter coats, demonstrators carried posters aimed at both Israel and Hamas, with messages that read, “Stop the war” and “Release prisoners now,” referring to the Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’ murderous rampage in Israel on October 7.

Israel has fiercely responded to that attack by besieging and bombing Gaza, devastating large parts of the enclave and displacing at least 1.93 million people, according to the United Nation’s agency for Palestine refugees.

Huge displacement camps have mushroomed across Gaza, where illnesses such as diarrhea, jaundice and Hepatitis A, are spreading due to overcrowded conditions and limited access to drinkable water or sanitation.

With winter winds and torrential rains lashing Gaza, Nuha Shaheen told CNN that children “are dying of cold.”

“What’s left? Enough, we want to go back home.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a stark warning Thursday, saying that Gaza faces a complete medical shutdown unless immediate actions are taken to safeguard essential services.

ICRC said that the Nasser medical complex and the European Gaza Hospital, both in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, are the only referral hospitals “that provide advanced surgical and medical emergency services with large bed capacities, which is not sufficient for the current wounded and sick across Gaza.”

Over 1.5 million people living in dire conditions in the south of Gaza, according to the ICRC.

The Israel Defense Forces have insisted that Hamas systematically operates in Gaza hospitals and adjacent areas, “using the residents as human shields.” The IDF said Wednesday that it will continue to operate in Khan Younis for “several days.” 

Audio and video shows panic inside a UN shelter in Khan Younis that was hit Wednesday by Israeli tanks, according to the United Nations’ relief agency in Gaza.

In a clip obtained by CNN, a woman sheltering at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facility said: We can’t count the martyrs, we can’t count the injured.” She said there are no Red Cross ambulances or firefighters.

In a video obtained and verified by CNN showing the UNRWA facility, a building surrounded by tents and temporary shelters is seen ablaze, with plumes of thick smoke. In another video obtained and verified by CNN, people are seen inside the facility, carrying the injured and moving in and out of crowded rooms.

UNRWA earlier said at least nine people were killed and 75 injured after the shelter was struck. The US State Department has called the strike “incredibly concerning.”

CNN’s Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

The Israeli military operation in Khan Younis will shut down the largest operating hospital in southern Gaza, the director of affairs for the UN’s relief agency for the enclave told CNN.

Thomas White of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said the Nasser Hospital is “under threat” because it is located in an area that is being forced to evacuate. 

For several days, UNRWA has been trying to get access to western Khan Younis, where the hospital is located, but White said the agency has been denied by the Israeli military because “fighting is too heavy.”

From left, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on January 24.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday and “agreed on the importance of avoiding steps that would further threaten the security and stability” of the region, according to Erdogan.

It is not clear, though, what that might look like in practice.

Raisi and Erdogan’s meeting in Ankara comes as tensions escalate across the Middle East.

Erdogan said they discussed the need to end the war in Gaza and “take urgent steps towards the establishment of a just and lasting peace.” Raisi added that “the primary issue of the Islamic world is the Palestine issue,” and called on Muslim countries to do more.

The two leaders have been united in their harsh criticism of Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza. But while Turkey has outwardly expressed a focus on ending the war and preventing conflict from spreading, Iran has taken a different course of action.

More details: Since the war began in October, Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have used the opportunity to take aim at Israeli and American targets in the region. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have targeted commercial vessels in the Red Sea with ties to Israel its allies.

The meeting between the two men comes as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly called on Muslim countries to cut political and economic ties with Israel. 

The US Navy shot down two missiles that the Iran-backed Houthis fired on Wednesday at the US-flagged, owned and operated M/V Maersk Detroit container ship, which was operating in the Gulf of Aden at the time, according to two US defense officials and US Central Command.

The USS Gravely, which was nearby at the time, shot down two of the missiles, and one landed in the water, the officials said. There were no injuries or damage to the ship, CENTCOM said in a statement.

The missile attack is the Houthis’ first successful launch since January 18, and comes just days after the US and the UK launched strikes against eight Houthi targets in Yemen. The US has also been trying to destroy Houthi missiles on the ground in Yemen as it sees the Iran-backed militant group preparing to launch them and has successfully targeted several in recent weeks. The Houthis say they are taking revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza against Hamas.

The M/V Maersk Detroit was traveling along with the Maersk Chesapeake at the time of the missile attacks on Wednesday, according to a statement from Maersk. The ships turned back from their planned voyage after seeing “explosions” on their way toward the Red Sea on Wednesday, according to the company.

The vessels are enrolled in the US Maritime Security Program and VISA (Voluntary Intermodal Sealift) and were set to transit the Bab el-Mandeb strait as part of a scheduled US Navy accompaniment.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to weigh in on reports of a mass casualty event at a United Nations shelter in Khan Younis Wednesday, but said Israeli forces have “taken steps to transition their operations,” including moving toward more “targeted” operations. 

The UN relief agency in Gaza, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said earlier Wednesday that nine people died after a shelter in the southern Gaza city was struck.  

Children stand outside tents at a makeshift tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in southern Gaza, on January 23.

Several Gaza residents told CNN about the painful challenges of displacement, cramped living and miserable weather as fighting between Israel and Hamas continues.

Mohammed Al-Jaro, who is displaced in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said:

Wajih Ajjour, from the al-Rimal area, is now displaced in a United Nations agency shelter in Khan Younis. He described the harsh impact of rain on makeshift shelters:

Hani Qalja in Rafah said most of the tents have water dripping through the middle as strong winds gust through:

The Israel Defense Forces appears to continue its focus on Khan Younis, as people try to flee the southern Gaza city. The main United Nations relief agency in Gaza said there have been “mass casualties” after a strike at a shelter there, and Palestinian health care workers and officials say the Israeli military is firing near two main hospitals in the area.

Meanwhile, while indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are happening, according to an Israeli official, no proposal has reached the negotiating table.

Here’s what to know:

Egypt's president Abdul Fatah El-Sisi talks to the press in Cairo, Egypt, on November 24.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday rejected claims that Egypt is delaying the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip. Instead, he pointed a finger at Israel, accusing it of squeezing the civilian population to secure the release of captives in Gaza. 

Sisi asserted that before the conflict, Egypt would allow approximately 600 trucks daily into Gaza. The United Nations has put the daily average at around 500, including both aid and commercial goods.

What Israel is saying: On Wednesday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) emphasized its role in getting aid to Gaza, saying on X, formerly Twitter, that “Israel’s role in the humanitarian aid operation for Gaza is one: Inspecting the aid for security reasons. Our inspection process is efficient, with us scaling up our capacities to maximize inspection capabilities. There is no limit to the amount of aid that can enter Gaza.”

Some Arab countries are demanding an “unambiguous commitment” from Israel and a “guaranteed pathway” to Palestinian statehood in return for underwriting Gaza reconstruction and normalization with Israel, regional officials told CNN this week.

The United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, conditioned their contribution to the reconstruction of Gaza post-war on a “commitment” to establishing an “independent and sovereign Palestinian state.” 

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Arab states submitted a joint proposal to Israel via the US “for postwar Gaza that would create a pathway toward a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi recognition of Israel.”

The proposal also includes that Arab states will train Palestinian security forces, assist with reviving and reforming the Palestinian Authority and eventually help organize elections, the WSJ said, citing unnamed Arab officials.

CNN could not immediately verify the proposal’s contents.

The initiative is still being finalized, but it has so far been rejected by Israel’s government, “with the creation of a Palestinian state the main sticking point,” the WSJ said.

CNN has reached out to the US and Israeli governments for comment.

Palestinian health officials and paramedics have reported Israeli tanks and attack drones firing at people trying to flee the vicinity of the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Israeli forces are “surrounding” the organization’s headquarters and the Al-Amal Hospital, and they have enforced “restrictions on movement around both the building and the hospital.” The PRCS said six people were killed in attacks in Khan Younis Wednesday, three of which had been “targeted” at the entrance of their headquarters. 

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israeli forces have also surrounded the Nasser medical complex, cutting off crucial medical, food, and fuel supplies.

A Geneva-based nongovernmental organization advocating for human rights in the region, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said on Wednesday that Israeli forces conducted “numerous intense air raids” extending to the west of Khan Younis. It said shelters housing “tens of thousands” of displaced people in the western part of the city and in the neighboring coastal town of Al-Mawasi are under siege by the Israeli military. 

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it will continue to operate in Khan Younis for “several days,” maintaining there are Hamas militants located in hospitals. CNN has sought comment from the IDF on whether its forces have surrounded the Nasser and Amal hospitals. 

Smoke billows over Khan Younis, southern Gaza, during Israeli bombardment on January 24.

A building sheltering hundreds of displaced people in southern Gaza was hit Wednesday amid intensified Israeli military attacks on Khan Younis, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, killing at least nine and injuring 75 others.

“Buildings ablaze and mass casualties. Safe access to and from the center has been denied for two days. People are trapped,” Thomas White, director of affairs for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter. 

White also said that a team from his agency and the World Health Organization were trying to reach the site, but that an agreed-upon route with the Israeli military is “blocked with (an) earth bank.”

White said the building shelters 800 people. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X that the entire Khan Younis Training Center, one of the largest UNRWA facilities in Gaza, was sheltering 30,000 people, and is clearly marked as a UN site.

Wajih Ajour, who is sheltering in the UNRWA facility, told CNN he could see tanks near the building.

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it continues to operate in Khan Younis, where it is pursuing “military targets, outposts, infrastructure and command and control centers” and said the operation there will continue for “several days.”

CNN has sought comment from the IDF on the fire at the UNRWA shelter.

This post has been updated with more details about the UNWRA facility in Khan Younis.

No proposed deal between Israel and Hamas has reached the negotiating table, an Israeli official told CNN Wednesday, adding that any recent reports saying that an agreement is close are incorrect and that there is a long way to go before a deal is reached. 

Hamas did not reject a proposal to release Israeli hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting, because it was never offered to them, the official said.

But indirect talks are ongoing, the official added. 

There have been various proposals from parties involved in the negotiations, including several from within Israel, and they are expected to be discussed in an Israeli security cabinet meeting on Thursday, the official said.

Israel is offering different terms in exchange for the return of the hostages, including a pause in fighting, but will not offer a permanent ceasefire until Hamas is destroyed, the official said.

The official asked not to be named discussing internal government deliberations.

A Haaretz report earlier this week cited a senior Egyptian official as saying Hamas had rejected a two-month pause in fighting in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Additionally reports from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post outlined details of deals they said had reached advanced stages of negotiation.