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

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States views South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel as “meritless”, and emphasised that the ongoing civilian casualties in Gaza due to the war are “far too high”.

Blinken made the comment at a press conference after talks in Tel Aviv with Israeli leaders.

He also added that numerous Middle Eastern nations are prepared to invest in Gaza's future, but only with a clear pathway to a Palestinian state.

He said that Palestinians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow them to, while adding that the US rejects any proposal advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza.

Blinken added that the US has had extensive discussions with Israeli officials about avoiding regional spread of conflict. He said that both the US and Israel believe that a diplomatic path is the best way to achieve security.

"We want this war to end as soon as possible," Blinken said. "It is vital Israel achieve its objective that 7 October can never happen again."

Jordan's King Abdullah is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday at a summit to address the "serious developments" occurring in the Gaza Strip, as reported by Jordan's state news agency on Tuesday.

The upcoming summit is a response to the escalating war in Gaza. The meeting is expected to focus on finding ways to address and possibly de-escalate the situation in Gaza.

UN international law experts on Tuesday criticised the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and other fighters in drone strikes in Lebanon, stating that these actions constitute extrajudicial killings and murder.

Israel has not officially acknowledged or denied its involvement in the death of Arouri. His death occurred a month after Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, declared its intention to pursue Hamas members in Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar.

"Killings in foreign territory are arbitrary when they are not authorised under international law," the two UN special rapporteurs, Ben Saul and Morris Tidball-Binz, said in a statement issued in Geneva.

"Israel was not exercising self-defence because it presented no evidence that the victims were committing an armed attack on Israel from Lebanese territory."

The UN special rapporteurs also said there was "no legal basis for geographically unlimited attacks against members of an armed group wherever they are".

Rabbis for Ceasefire, a group of rabbis and rabbinical students from Israel, North America and Europe staged a "prayerful protest" at the UN headquarters in New York to demand a ceasefire.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said that he is "worried" that Israel's actions in Gaza "might be in breach of international law" as he was questioned by parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday.

"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," he said.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has reiterated his country's "readiness" for talks about long term stability on its southern border with Israel, in a meeting with UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix in Beirut.

“We seek permanent stability and call for a lasting peaceful solution – but in return we receive warnings through international envoys about a war on Lebanon,” Mikati said in a statement.

“The position I repeat to these delegates is: Do you support the idea of destruction? Is what is happening in Gaza acceptable?”

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK, speaking to the BBC, said that the country is still interested in normalising relations with Israel after the war in Gaza.

Any normalisation deal must also lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, said Prince Khalid bin Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the UK. 

A deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia was close before 7 October, said Bandar. 

Despite the "deplorable" casualty figures in Gaza, the kingdom was still interested in establishing ties with Israel, said Bandar, however this would not "come at the cost of the Palestinian people," he added. 

Speaking about the Israeli government, Bandar said: "The problem that we have today with the current government in Israel is there is an extreme, absolutist perspective which does not work to achieve compromise and therefore you are never going to end the conflict.

"The unprecedented level of the violence that has been carried out by both sides - but in particular by what is meant to be a responsible state in Israel - over the past three months, I don't think I have seen anything like it in my life," he said. "The numbers are deplorable, absolutely deplorable," he added.

The Palestinian man shot dead north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank has been named as 31-year-old Ibrahim Samih Jayousi. 

Air France stated on Tuesday that it will resume flights to Israel from 24 January, according to an airline spokesperson.

Air France will operate three weekly flights from Paris to Tel Aviv using Airbus A350 aircraft, the spokesperson said.

Many foreign carriers stopped flights to Israel when the war started on 7 October. However, carriers such as Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian resumed flights again this week. 
 

Reports in Israeli media state that air strikes have targeted the funeral of Wissam al-Tawil, a Hezbollah commander who was killed in a similar air strike yesterday.

Initial reports state that the air strikes have killed a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for dozens of drone attacks on Israel in recent months.

Al Jazeera English reported that one person has died, and another air strike nearby has killed three others, in what has been called a “very dangerous situation”.

The Israeli army has not yet issued a statement on the strike.
 

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources. 

The shooting took place near the Ein Siny checkpoint, close to Ramallah. 

The Palestinian was described as being a “youth”. 
 

An Israeli air strike targeted a car near the home of Wissam al-Tawil on Tuesday, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed on Monday in an air strike in southern Lebanon. 

The air strike hit the same region, according to Israeli media citing Lebanese sources, with no casualties reported so far.
 

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society announced on Tuesday that Israel has detained at least 5,755 Palestinians since the start of the war on 7 October. 

The figure includes around 190 women and 335 children, the organisation said. Journalists are also among those detained. 

The most recent arrests took place in the occupied West Bank, where at least 25 Palestinians were detained. 
 

Opinion by Jonathan Cook - Israel’s allies aren’t just turning a blind eye to Gaza’s killing fields. They have cheered on the bloodshed, provided diplomatic cover and supplied the arms.

Read more: The West will stand in the dock alongside Israel at the genocide court

After five days encircled by Israeli shelling, troops invaded Malak Abu Sharara's home in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp.

When guns were aimed at her, the Palestinian mother tried to explain there were only civilians in the house. But she felt soldiers were going to shoot anyway, so she ducked. Moments later, she realised a bullet hit her 12-year-old boy, Mohammed Abdel Wahed. 

"We pleaded for help and to get an ambulance," Abu Sharara told Middle East Eye. "But then a tank shelled the other side of the house causing my boy to die and wounding me and my husband." 

The family were trapped for five days in their home after others in the area fled. Abu Sharara said every time they tried to leave the house, an artillery hit nearby, forcing them back. 

Israeli tanks and bulldozers eventually arrived near their home, razing a section of it and storming in. 

That's when Abdel Wahed was shot. 

Afterwards, Israeli forces told everyone in the house to leave before arresting Abu Sharara's husband and brother-in-law. 

Traumatised, exhausted and with blood stains on her clothes, she recalled the journey to the nearest hospital.

"I carried his dead body and fled on foot all the way to the al-Aqsa Hospital.

"It was horrifying. We saw death a thousand times in one moment." 

Reporting by Osama Kahlout in Deir al-Balah, the Gaza Strip.