Live updates | UN court keeps genocide case against Israel alive as Gaza death toll surpasses 26,000

The death toll from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip surpassed 26,000 on Friday as the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to limit deaths and damage but stopped short of demanding a cease-fire in the Palestinian territory.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said that 26,083 people have been killed and more than 64,400 wounded since Oct. 7, the day militants from the territory launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

South Africa has accused Israel of genocide and asked the world court in The Hague, Netherlands, to impose interim measures as the case proceeds. The requested measures included ordering Israel to stop its offensive, to allow Gaza residents access to aid and to take “reasonable measures” to prevent genocide.

Israel has denied committing genocide and asked the court to throw out the case, which the panel of 17 judges refused to do.

Currently:

— Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire a missile at a US warship, escalating worst Mideast sea conflict in decades.

— Israel vows to fight Hamas all the way to Gaza’s southern border. That’s fueling tension with Egypt.

— How genocide officially became a crime, and why South Africa is accusing Israel of committing it.

— Georgia lawmakers, in support of Israel, pass a bill that would define antisemitism in state law.

— The U.S. and the U.K. sanction four Houthi leaders over Red Sea shipping attacks.

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's the latest:

UN SECURITY COUNCIL SCHEDULES MEETING TO FOLLOW UP ON TOP COURT'S RULING

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to follow up on the ruling by the U.N.’s top court ordering Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, requested the meeting late Friday. The request followed a closed-door meeting of the U.N.’s 22-member Arab group, which supported a council meeting.

France’s U.N. Mission, which holds the council presidency this month, said the meeting will take place Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. EST.

The International Court of Justice stopped short of calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war which followed the militant group’s attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7. But it offered little other consolation to Israel in the case brought by South Africa under the Genocide Convention.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told reporters as he headed into Friday’s meeting that the International Court of Justice’s ruling was “historic.” He said the Palestinians, Algeria and South Africa are analyzing the ruling in order to take “appropriate steps” in the Security Council.

“If one is to look at the provisional measures separately and collectively, it gives the clear message that in order to do all the things that they are asking for, you need a ceasefire for it to happen,” Mansour said.

The council has adopted resolutions endorsing humanitarian pauses, but the United States, a veto-wielding council member, opposes a ceasefire and has blocked attempts to have the council call for a halt to hostilities.

YEMEN’S HOUTHI REBELS HIT A BRITISH VESSEL WITH A MISSLE, CAUSING DAMAGE

WASHINGTON — A British vessel was struck by a missile and caught fire in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s coast, the U.S. and U.K. militaries said Friday.

A U.S. military official confirmed the vessel was hit and damaged by a single anti-ship ballistic missile fired from a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebel group. The official said there were no known injuries, and spoke on condition of anonymity because no authorization had been given to discuss the incident.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which oversees Mideast waterways, acknowledged a vessel had been struck.

It’s latest assault by the Houthis in their campaign against ships traveling through the Red Sea and surrounding waters amid Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

The attack came hours after the Houthis launched a missile at a U.S. warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree did not acknowledge the Carney attack, but claimed a missile attack on a commercial vessel that had set the ship ablaze. He identified the vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Marlin Luanda. The Associated Press could not immediately reach the ship’s British managers.

The U.S. and Britain have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes since the Houthi attacks began.

UN CHIEF SAYS HE'S ‘HORRIFIED’ BY ALLEGATIONS THAT SEVERAL GAZA STAFF TOOK PART IN OCT. 7 ATTACKS

UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “horrified” at the “extremely serious allegations” implicating several U.N. staff members in Gaza in Hamas’ surprise attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and has ordered the U.N.’s internal watchdog to investigate.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday that Guterres was briefed on the allegations earlier this week by Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the U.N. agency dealing with Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA.

The secretary-general asked the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N.’s internal watchdog, to launch an investigation “to establish the truth without delay,” Dujarric said.

“Any employee of UNRWA who is involved in acts of terror will be held accountable including through criminal prosecution,” he said.

Dujarric said 153 U.N. staff have perished during the Israeli-Hamas war and some 13,000 UNRWA staff are “all working to their best of their ability to deliver humanitarian aid.”

Dujarric said Guterres spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the UNRWA allegations, when asked about the U.S. suspension of funding to UNRWA.

Dujarric said UNRWA launched an appeal at the end of December for about $481 million and has received about $280 million plus an additional $90 million for urgent needs. He said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians need humanitarian assistance “even more now than they did before” and support for UNRWA remains critical.

UN SECRETARY GENERAL SAYS HE TRUSTS ISRAEL WILL COMPLY WITH ICJ ORDER

UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is stressing that rulings of the U.N.’s top court are legally binding and trusts that Israel will comply with its orders, including “to take all measures within its power” to prevent acts that would bring about the destruction of the Palestinian people.

The U.N. chief takes note of the provisional measures the International Court of Justice ordered, and takes special note of its order to Israel to ensure the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the conditions in Gaza, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

Guterres also notes the court’s emphasis that “all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip are bound by international humanitarian law,” and that it calls for the immediate release of all hostages abducted by Hamas and other armed groups during the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, he said.

Dujarric said the secretary-general respects the independence of the U.N. court and did not want to be a commentator on its rulings.

But he said Guterres has repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, stepped up humanitarian assistance for most of the 2.3 million people there, and the immediate release of the hostages.

CIA CHIEF WILL MEET WITH ISRAEL, QATAR AND EGYPT OFFICIALS ABOUT HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL

WASHINGTON — CIA Director Bill Burns is slated to soon meet in Europe with David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, according to three people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

The meeting will focus on the release of hostages in exchange for a pause in hostilities in Gaza. The administration’s hope is that an agreement could lead to a extended cease-fire that could eventually bring an end to the conflict, according to a U.S. official.

The CIA and White House National Security Council declined to comment on the meeting.

Egypt and Qatar have brokered past agreements between Israel and Hamas.

Burns’ trip comes after a visit to the Mideast by White House senior envoy Brett McGurk this week focused on the winning the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

McGurk has also been laying the groundwork for another trip to the region by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who could make his fifth visit to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war next week.