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Palestinians on Wednesday comb through the rubble of buildings that were destroyed in an overnight bombardment in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

ICJ orders Israel to act on aid crisis in Gaza; Palestinian Authority names new cabinet

2 min

The International Court of Justice issued additional measures Thursday amending and strengthening its January order that Israel do more to prevent the deaths of civilians in Gaza.

In its new order, the judges called on Israel to “take all necessary and effective measures” to ensure the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the enclave. Earlier Thursday, the Palestinian Authority named a new cabinet Thursday, amid discontent in the West Bank and international pressure to reform.

Key updates
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office agreed to reschedule a visit by Israeli officials to Washington, the White House said Wednesday, to discuss Israel’s planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel canceled an earlier meeting after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote on a cease-fire resolution, allowing it to pass.
France will provide approximately $32 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday. A number of major Western backers withdrew funding from UNRWA following Israeli allegations that UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli forces have begun operations inside al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said, as their raid on al-Shifa Hospital in the north continued since its launch more than a week ago. About two-thirds of hospitals in Gaza were nonfunctional as of Wednesday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
Nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in the southern Lebanese areas of Teir Harfa and Naqoura overnight, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Thursday, citing Hezbollah and its allied Amal movement. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck militant cells in those areas Wednesday night. NNA previously reported that the three people killed at a cafe in Naqoura were civil defense paramedics.
More than half of Americans say they disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza, while 36 percent say they approve of it, according to a Gallup poll of 1,016 U.S. adults released Wednesday. Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 18 percent of Democrats support Israel’s military action, the poll found.
At least 32,552 people have been killed and 74,980 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 253 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office agreed to reschedule a visit by Israeli officials to Washington, the White House said Wednesday, to discuss Israel’s planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel canceled an earlier meeting after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote on a cease-fire resolution, allowing it to pass.
France will provide approximately $32 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday. A number of major Western backers withdrew funding from UNRWA following Israeli allegations that UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli forces have begun operations inside al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said, as their raid on al-Shifa Hospital in the north continued since its launch more than a week ago. About two-thirds of hospitals in Gaza were nonfunctional as of Wednesday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
Nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in the southern Lebanese areas of Teir Harfa and Naqoura overnight, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Thursday, citing Hezbollah and its allied Amal movement. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck militant cells in those areas Wednesday night. NNA previously reported that the three people killed at a cafe in Naqoura were civil defense paramedics.
More than half of Americans say they disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza, while 36 percent say they approve of it, according to a Gallup poll of 1,016 U.S. adults released Wednesday. Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 18 percent of Democrats support Israel’s military action, the poll found.
At least 32,552 people have been killed and 74,980 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 253 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for six months, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding region.

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival. (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “famine-like conditions.” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians, including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons, funds aid packages, and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip.