Israel-Palestine live: Israel’s response to South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ ends

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) slammed former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for telling The Telegraph that he was concerned about “the worrying politicisation of the Met police”, because of their investigation into war crimes in Gaza.

"ICJP utterly condemns the reckless and dangerous language used by Johnson and will consider making a complaint about his conduct," the group said. 

The Metropolitan Police are investigating Israel over allegations of potential war crimes in Gaza.

Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit has appealed to witnesses travelling through British airports to report evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the besieged enclave. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel, as the US looks to contain fighting in Gaza, a senior US official said.

The official told reporters on condition of anonymity that  senior Biden advisor Amos Hochstein will also travel to Israel in a bid to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after the assassination of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.

UN Security Council members on Wednesday called for the Houthis to stop attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, saying they posed a risk to freedom of navigation and regional stability.

UN assistant secretary general Khaled Khiari said “no cause or grievance” could justify continuing Houthi attacks against freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.

The UN official called for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks to prevent impoverished and war-ravaged Yemen from being “dragged into a regional conflagration”.

In their first open meeting on the attacks by Houthi rebels, UN Security Council members also demanded that the Houthis release Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship linked to an Israeli company, and its crew, which the group seized on 19 November.

Chris Lu, a US representative to the UN, said Washington believed the situation had come to an "inflection point”.

Israel pounded Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Wednesday with artillery and air strikes, killing at least 20 people.

Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids targeting al-Khalafa Mosque in the west of Khan Younis, the vicinity of Nasser Hospital, and several homes housing displaced persons, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Israel also targeted an area near Aisha Mosque in al-Salam neighbourhood, east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of four citizens and the injury of others, Wafa said.

The Gaza city of Rafah is home to roughly one million forcibly displaced Palestinians, where they live in squalid conditions under Israeli bombardment.

A local Hezbollah official and three other members of the Iran-aligned group were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The strike comes at a time of heightened tensions, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowing to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in a southern Beirut suburb that is also a Hezbollah stronghold.

The strike brings Hezbollah’s death toll to nine on Wednesday, according to Reuters, marking one of the deadliest days for the group since it began fighting Israel along Lebanon’s southern border in October.

Lebanon’s foreign minister said Hezbollah is unlikely to escalate against Israel in a way that could drag the Mediterranean country into an all-out war against its southern neighbour. 

In an interview on CNN, Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said Hezbollah alone held the power to decide how it would respond to an Israeli strike against a senior Hamas official in a Beirut suburb that is its stronghold.

“We hope they don’t commit themselves to a larger war… We have a lot of reasons to think that this will not happen,” he said, adding that Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister was in constant touch with the group.

Hamas still has a "significant force posture" inside Gaza after almost three months of Israeli strikes and a ground offensive, the White House said on Wednesday.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was an "attainable goal" for Israel to knock out the military threat posed by Hamas but it could probably not "erase the group from existence”.

“Are you going to eliminate the ideology? No. And are you likely going to erase the group from existence? Probably not,” Kirby said.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz met on Wednesday with US Senator Lindsey Graham.

Gantz said he conveyed his profound appreciation to Graham for his “personal friendship” with  Israel, in a social media post on X. 

Gantz said he briefed the US Republican Senator on the “uncompromisable necessity to dismantle Hamas in Gaza..[and] the irreconcilable reality on Israel’s northern border”,  a reference to the near-daily exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings next week on South Africa’s allegation that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza.

According to a press release, the hearings are set to be held on Thursday, 11 January, and Friday, 12 January.

Turkey and Malaysia have backed South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the US has dismissed the case as “meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact.”

Germany has called for its citizens to leave Lebanon after the assassination of a senior Hamas official in a southern Beirut suburb on Tuesday sparked fears of a regional escalation.

Germany’s foreign ministry asked all of its citizens to register on the crisis preparedness list and “leave as quickly as possible", in a social media post on X. 

Israel assassinated senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut on Tuesday. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel for the killing of its ally in the group's Beirut stronghold. 

The US's concern about regional escalation “is not any higher today” than it was before the Israeli assassination of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Miller, who refused to confirm whether Israel carried out the strike, said Washington had not changed its threat perception about the war in Gaza spilling over into a regional conflict as a result of Arouri’s killing. 

He added that Washington believed the senior Hamas official was responsible for the 7 October attack on Israel.

Arouri has been on the US terrorist list since 2015 and had a $5m bounty placed on his head by Washington.

The EU’s top diplomat slammed Israeli ministers who called for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

“I strongly condemn the inflammatory & irresponsible statements by Israeli ministers Ben Gvir & Smotrich slandering the Palestinian population of Gaza & calling for a plan for their emigration,” Josep Borrell said in a post on the social media platform X.

Borrell’s statement comes a day after Washington directly rebuked Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who called for a “migration” of Palestinians from Gaza and the resettlement of Israelis to the besieged enclave.

Earlier today, Borrell said the international community had to "impose" a solution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine

Washington was not given advance notice of the strike that killed senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, even though has he refused to say who was responsible for the killing. 

Miller added that the US is incredibly concerned that the war in Gaza could spread to other fronts after the strike, but called Arouri "a brutal terrorist with civilian blood on his hands”.

Separately, addressing a bombing in Iran that killed at least 103 people, Miller said it was “absurd” that the US and Israel would be behind the attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings near the tomb of assassinated Quds Force leader, Qassem Soleimani.

The US and its allies issued a final ultimatum to the Houthis to stop maritime attacks in the Red Sea or “bear the responsibility of the consequences”.

A statement released Wednesday by the White House and 11 other US allies said the Houthis had no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels. It also called on the Houthis to release detained vessels and crews.

“Attacks on vessels…are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” the statement said.

"The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

Jordan’s foreign minister said Israel’s goal is to "ignite" the West Bank and Lebanon while dragging the West into a regional war. 

“Israel's crimes in Palestine and Lebanon are a translation of this agenda that carries out killing and destruction,” Ayman Safadi said in a post on X.

Safadi said Israel wants to drag the West into a regional war to prolong the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Everyone will pay the price for violating international law and not curbing this extremism.”