UN court to deliver ruling as conflict continues

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,900 since October 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The Israeli army killed 200 Palestinians and wounded 370 others over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a press statement.

It added that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has wounded at least 64,110 Palestinians, noting that a large number of victims were still under the rubble as ambulance and civil defense crews could not reach them.

The Israeli army on Thursday ordered residents of the southern Khan Younis city to evacuate their homes in preparation for coming bombings.

Avichai Adraei, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said on social media platform X that "to the residents of Khan Younis in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Al-Amal, the city center and the camp, in blocks of 107-108-109-110-111-112, for your safety, you must move immediately to the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi."

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said in a statement on Thursday that the Israeli army's besiegement has rendered the hospitals in Khan Younis completely paralyzed and hindered the movement of ambulances.

Currently, medical teams are working to resume partial operation of the hospitals in northern Gaza that were damaged by Israeli attacks.

'Observe a ceasefire'

Hamas announced on Thursday that the movement is ready to observe a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issues a ruling calling for it as long as Israel reciprocates.

"If the court issues a ceasefire decision, the Hamas movement will adhere to the ceasefire as long as Israel adheres to that," the group said in a statement.

In addition, it said that "Hamas will release the Israeli prisoners detained by it if Israel releases the Palestinian prisoners detained by it," noting that Israel must "end the siege that has been ongoing for 18 years on Gaza and allow the entry of all necessary aid for relief and reconstruction."

The ICJ is set to deliver a ruling on South Africa's genocide case against Israel on Friday in the Hague. It will also rule on South Africa's demand for the court's urgent intervention to stop Israel's military operation in Gaza.

Judge Joan E. Donoghue, the president of the court, will read out the order at 1 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) during a public sitting at the Peace Palace.

During two-day public hearings held earlier this month, South African representatives accused Israel of "deliberate" and "systemic" genocide against Palestinians. Israeli representatives argued that Israel's military operation in Gaza was an act of self-defense, and denied South Africa's genocide accusation.

Answers demand on civilian casualties

The United States has created a channel with Israel to discuss concerns over incidents in Gaza where civilians have been killed or injured by the Israeli military, and civilian facilities have been targeted. This information comes from two U.S. officials with knowledge, as reported by Reuters.

On Thursday, Israeli fire struck a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at Kuwait Square, a major intersection in Gaza City, killing at least 20, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. 

The ministry's spokesman, Ashraf al-Qidra, stated in a press release that the Israeli strike also injured 150 others, among the thousands waiting for humanitarian aid at Kuwait Square.

The Israel Defense Forces are looking into the reports without revealing more information.

This effort marks Washington's first formal demand for answers from Israel over the high civilian death toll. However, it falls short of the more robust tools Washington has previously used to investigate allegations of large-scale civilian fatalities, according to a Reuters report.

The Biden administration, despite senior Biden aides acknowledging that "far too many" Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, has so far refused to directly blame Israel for the civilian Palestinian death toll, as the report added.

'Hellish' condition

As he described the situation in Gaza as "hellish" in an emotional appeal to the governing body of the global health organization on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged a cessation of hostilities and a "true solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict, Reuters reports. 

"I think all of you have said the two-state solution and so on, and hope this war will end and move into a true solution," he said, before breaking down, describing the current situation as "beyond words," the report added. 

Israel's permanent representative at the UN accuses the World Health Organization of "collusion" with Hamas, according to AFP on Thursday. 

"The statement by the director-general was the embodiment of everything that is wrong with WHO since October 7. No mention of the hostages, the rapes, the murder of Israelis, nor the militarisation of hospitals and Hamas' despicable use of human shields," Reuters citing Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel's ambassador. 

(With input from agencies)