EXPLAINER
The ICJ is set to deliver its response to South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel on Friday, while intense strikes continue in Khan Younis.
Here’s how things stand on Thursday, January 25, 2024:
Latest updates
- The International Court of Justice announced that it will deliver its response to South Africa’s request for emergency measures to protect Palestinians from “irreparable harm” on Friday, January 26 at 1pm local time in The Hague (12:00 GMT).
- On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters called on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the immediate release of captives held in the Gaza Strip. They blocked Tel Aviv’s main Ayalon Highway before they rallied outside the nearby headquarters of the Israeli military and Ministry of Defense, reported The Associated Press news agency.
- A reported Israeli tank fire killed at least nine people at a United Nations shelter in Khan Younis on Wednesday, and wounded dozens, sparking international outrage. Israel’s military said it investigating the incident and has so far “ruled out” that it was the result of an “aerial or artillery strike” from its forces.
Human impact and fighting
- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday that “no one can enter or exit” Nasser Hospital due to bombardments nearby, including 400 dialysis patients who are in “need of support”.
- Al-Amal Hospital, Al-Aqsa Hospital, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance headquarters in Khan Younis are also surrounded by heavy fighting, OCHA said in its daily situation update on Wednesday.
- Four children were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed a residential area in the Nuseirat refugee camp overnight, reported Palestinian news agency Wafa.
- Israeli forces have arrested more than 6,225 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to statistics released by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society on Tuesday.
Diplomacy
- In a post on X on Wednesday, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, said Doha was “appalled” by Netanyahu allegedly calling Qatari mediation efforts to secure the return of captives in Gaza “problematic”.
- Netanyahu has reportedly also said he is “very angry” with the fact the United States has renewed their military presence for an additional 10 years at the US base in Qatar, reported Al Jazeera correspondent Hamdah Salhut.
- On Wednesday, 49 of the 51 members of the US Senate Democratic caucus backed a statement reiterating support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Reuters.
- South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor will travel to The Hague to hear the ICJ ruling on her country’s request for emergency measures against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, according to spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed at a meeting on Wednesday on the need to avoid steps that could threaten Middle East stability.