Israel-Palestine live: Israel bombs Unrwa building in Gaza

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday opens a week of hearings on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, with more than 50 states due to address the judges.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will speak first in the legal proceedings.

In 2022, the UN General Assembly asked the court for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation. 

The hearings will be held until February 26, after that the judges are expected to take several months to deliberate before issuing an advisory opinion.

Amongst countries scheduled to participate in the hearings are the United States - Israel's strongest backer, China, Russia, South Africa and Egypt. Israel will not participate, although it has sent written observations.

Yemen’s Houthis targeted a Belize-flagged, UK-registered and Lebanese-operated cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and it is now at risk of sinking, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement on Monday

Sarea also said that their forces ensured the crew of the ship was safe, adding that a US drone was also shot down. 

Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, is under siege and constant Israeli attacks. 

Before 7 October, the city, which spans just 64 sq km, was already overpopulated and wracked by poverty and harsh living conditions due to a 17-year Israeli blockade. 

Since then, after Israel forcibly ejected Palestinians from northern and central Gaza towards the south, Rafah's population has quintupled in a matter of months to around 1.5 million. 

The people in Rafah, whose history spans three millennia, are now living in what resembles a cramped, makeshift tent city. These temporary abodes are inhabited by Palestinian refugees who have been displaced multiple times in their lives.  

Earlier this week, at least 67 Palestinians were killed after Israeli air forces struck 14 homes and three mosques in the city. 

Read more: The Sinai-Gaza oasis city divided by a contentious border

Minister and member of the war cabinet Benny Gantz said that the negotiating team for the hostage deal will join talks in Cairo "when the conditions are ripe," the Israeli daily Haarets reported on Monday.

In a conversation with family members of hostages outside his home, Gantz said: "We need to go there to return them, not go there to go there."

Gantz also added in his conversation with the families that the greatest chance of repatriating their relatives is through an outline, "and where there are other options, as much as we can do it while ensuring the safety of the hostages – we will."

A Belize-flagged, UK-registered and Lebanese-operated cargo ship has been attacked in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, reports UK maritime security firm Ambrey.

There was an explosion some 64km south of Yemen’s Mukha, causing damage to the vessel, the Maritime Trade Operations agency said. There have been no reported injuries.

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The Israeli army announced that a soldier was killed fighting in southern Gaza yesterday, raising the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 235.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest developments from Israel's war on Gaza, which enters day 136 today: 

• Norway has agreed to act as an intermediary between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the transfer of frozen tax funds, offering a temporary solution that will allow the body to pay salaries and provide essential services

• Netanyahu has said that “Qatar can press Hamas as no one else can” and has called for pressure to be placed on Doha to influence the group

• The Israeli military has raided the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and arrested at least three Palestinians

• Hezbollah says it launched nine attacks against Israel on Sunday, including targeting a gathering of Israeli troops in the town of Even Menachem

• Ramy Abdu, the head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said “very small quantities of food” arrived in Gaza on Sunday and that it was “impossible for them to reach the camps in northern Gaza”

• In Israel, Netanyahu’s government formalised its opposition to what it called the “unilateral recognition” of Palestinian statehood with a unanimous cabinet vote

Dear MEE readers, 

One of Gaza's last functioning medical facilities was put completely out of service on Sunday by Israel's ongoing raid, following a week-long siege and fuel shortages.

The latest blow to Gaza's destroyed healthcare sector came as Israel prepared for an assault on the southernmost city Rafah, home now to more than a million mostly displaced Palestinians living in desperate conditions.

Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated much of Gaza and forced nearly all its inhabitants from their homes. Health authorities say 28,985 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, two Palestinian men were killed in an Israeli raid, while a third, a member of the Palestinian Authority Security forces, was shot at a checkpoint.

Other updates include:

• Israeli Minister Benny Gantz has said that if Israeli captives held in Gaza are not returned by Ramadan, the military will expand its operations into Rafah

• Norway has agreed to help transfer frozen tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were collected by Israel

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to limit the number of Palestinians who will be allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan

• The US Central Command, in a post on X, said it "successfully conducted five self-defence strikes against targets in "Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen"

• The Water Transport Workers Federation of India has announced that it will refuse to load or unload weapons to Israel

• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva compared Israel's killing of Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi genocide against Jews during World War Two, sparking Israeli backlash

• The UAE, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, has called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, warning that "an impending Israeli offensive will displace millions"

The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba, has called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza.

“An immediate ceasefire and urgent aid surge are needed to meet the mounting humanitarian calamity in Gaza," al-Otaiba said in an embassy post to the X social media platform.

“Half of the people are starving. The medical system has collapsed. Safe water is scarce. An impending Israeli offensive will displace millions.”

The UAE is one of the Arab countries that normalised diplomatic ties and economic relations with Israel under the backing of former US President Donald Trump in 2020.

Israeli Minister Benny Gantz has confirmed that Palestinian access to Al-Aqsa will be restricted during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, but said the exact restrictions "have yet to be decided this evening".  

"Considering the sensitivity around the security situation, restrictions will be put in place for security purposes alone," he said in a post to X.

"The security forces will finalise their recommendations in accordance with the latest situation assessments and will subsequently be presented to the political echelon for decision-making."

Earlier, Israeli Channel 13 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's proposal to limit the number of Palestinians who will be allowed to enter the mosque compound. 

Ben Gvir has reportedly been requesting that Palestinian citizens of Israel below the age of 70 be banned from entering the holy site.

Israel's internal intelligence agency has warned against the move, recommending unrestricted access for Palestinian worshippers. 

Norway has agreed to help transfer frozen tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were collected by Israel, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, providing vital funding to the Western-backed entity.

"The temporary scheme will play a crucial role in preventing the Palestinian Authority from collapsing financially," the Norwegian ministry said in a statement.

In a post to X social media platform, the ministry said: "Norway and the Palestinian Authorities have worked constructively together for decades.

A two-state solution is the only sustainable path to peace. We urgently need humanitarian aid, ceasefire and a Palestinian state."

Israeli forces fatally shot a member of the Palestinian Authority security forces the West Bank city of Nablus, the local Palestinian health ministry reported. 

Anas Devikat, 26 and from the village of Rujeib, was killed by Israeli army fire after allegedly failing to respond to the soldiers' calls to stop at a checkpoint.

According to am Israeli army spokesperson, Devikat arrived at the entrance to the city by vehicle, and upon his arrival at the scene, exited the vehicle and approached Israeli soldiers that were operating there.

The soldiers asked him to stop, and after he did not respond to their calls and continued to approach, the soldiers opened fire, the army said. 

Devikat's body was confiscated by Israeli forces, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's proposal to limit the number of Palestinians who will be allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli Channel 13 has reported. 

Israel's internal intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, has warned against the move, recommending unrestricted access for Palestinian worshippers. 

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported that Ben Gvir was pushing to ban Palestinian citizens of Israel below the age of 70 from entering the mosque compound.

Read More: Israeli police and Shin Bet 'disagree on Al-Aqsa restrictions' during Ramadan

The Hamas movement has said it "values" the Brazilian president’s remarks, calling them an "accurate description" of what Palestinians are enduring with the support of the United States.

"We call on the International Court of Justice to take into consideration the Brazilian president’s statement about what our Palestinian people are going though at the hand of the criminal occupation army," the group said, stressing that Palestinians are being subjected to unprecedented atrocities in modern history.

Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit, that what was happening in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".

Read More: 'It's a genocide': Brazil's Lula compares war on Gaza to Holocaust

The US Central Command, in a post on X, said it "successfully conducted five self-defence strikes against three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel (UUV) and one unmanned surface vessel (USV)" in "Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen".

It said the UUV was the "first observed Houthi employment" of such a vessel since attacks began on 23 October.