Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Netanyahu slams South Africa for launching ICJ case for alleged 'genocidal' acts

After the US forces struck the Houthi boats in the Red Sea, at least 10 'Houthi rebels' were killed, AFP cited two sources at Yemen's Hodeida port as saying.

"Ten Houthis were killed and two were wounded in the US strike on Huthi boats that tried to stop a vessel in the sea off Hodeida,” the first source told the AFP.

The second source reportedly said that "four survivors have arrived in Hodeida with two wounded who were taken to hospital".

The UK Maritime Trade Operations organisation said it received a report of an incident in the Red Sea. The incident reportedly occurred about 55 nautical miles south-west of  Hodeidah port of Yemen.

The master of the ship reported “a loud bang accompanied by a flash on the port bow of the vessel” and several explosions in the area.

It came after the US Central Command (Centcom) said it dispatched two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Laboon, after the container ship Maersk Hangzhou reported being struck by a missile at 8.30pm local time on Saturday (see more details in the post at 09.37).

“While responding, the USS Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the ships,” Centcom said.

At least 40 Palestinians were killed in the overnight bombing in Gaza city, Hamas-run health ministry said.

"After the explosion we arrived at the scene of the strike and saw martyrs everywhere," one local man told AFP after a building was hit.

"Children are still missing, we can’t find them," he said.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed South Africa for launching a case against the former's alleged "genocidal" acts in Gaza at the International Case of Justice (ICJ). Netanyahu claimed that Israel displayed "morality" in the war, news agency AFP reported. 

"We will continue our defensive war, the justice and morality of which is without peer," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.

"No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

"It would murder all of us if it could. In contrast, the IDF (Israeli army) is acting as morally as possible."

The Israeli government has approved the appointment of a new foreign minister to replace Eli Cohen.

Cohen will now become the energy minister as part of a pre-arranged ministerial rotation.

Cohen will continue to serve as a member of the security cabinet while Yisrael Katz will serve as foreign affairs minister, the statement said.

The appointments are subject to Israeli parliamentary approval.

The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said on Sunday that during a call with Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, London made it clear that Tehran shared responsibility for preventing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their longstanding support to the Houthis,” he wrote on X, adding that the attacks “threaten innocent lives and the global economy”.

Cameron's comments came after the US Navy shot down two anti-ship missiles and sunk three small boats after responding to distress calls from a container ship that was attacked twice by Houthi rebels as it crossed the Red Sea over the weekend.

US Navy helicopters sank three of four small boats used by Iranian-backed Houthi militants to attack a merchant vessel in the southern Red Sea on Sunday, US central command wrote on X.

Responding to distress calls from the Maersk Hangzhou, helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely reportedly returned fire on the Houthi boats in self-defence and sank three of the vessels with no survivors.

The fourth boat fled the area, US central command said.
 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Hamas of planting explosives inside a kindergarten in the Gaza Strip. "During operational activity on the outskirts of Shati, our troops located and neutralized explosive devices planted in a kindergarten, ready to be detonated upon passing troops," the IDF said in a post on X.

The death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip has climbed to 21,672 with most victims being women and children. 

Air strikes continue to pound the central part of the Gaza Strip. There’s not only air strikes and artillery shelling but there’s also the Israeli forces on the ground, whose number has increased dramatically within the past two days, reported Al Jazeera from Khan Younis.

Dismissing growing international calls to stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to continue until "absolute victory." The goal requires more time, he said in a televised prime-time news conference. 

Gaza health ministry said Saturday that 21,672 Palestinians have been killed and 56,165 wounded in Gaza in Israeli strikes since oct 7.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that “the number of people killed by air strikes, believed to be carried out by Israeli forces, has risen to 23.”

The UK-based organisation added that those people killed in the air strikes on Al-Bokamal, Syria were from Iran-backed armed groups and included five Syrians and six Iraqis.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has welcomed South Africa’s decision to file a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, media reports said.

A Palestinian journalist working for Al-Quds TV was killed along with some of his family members in an airstrike on their house in a refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday (December 29), health officials and fellow journalists said, as per media reports.

Israelis and Palestinians end a dark year on Sunday, with no end in sight to the deadliest military offensive on Gaza, triggered by Hamas' bloodiest attack on Israel.

UNRWA’s director Thomas White said that 40 per cent of the population in Gaza is at risk of famine as he shared video of people scrambling for aid.

People are hungry and just desperate for food @UNRWA convoy in #Gaza City this week. 40 per cent of the population at risk of famine. More regular supplies needed - require safe and sustainable #humanitarain access everywhere including to the North of Gaza,” White said, in a post on X.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organization said that an unidentified ship's master in the Red Sea reported “a loud bang accompanied by a flash on the port bow of the vessel” and multiple explosions in the vicinity of the area.

The incident took place nearly 55 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The report said that no injuries or damage was reported and the boat continued to head in full speed to its next port of call.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war between Israel and Hamas will last "many months" as he renewed his pledge for eliminating the militant group from Gaza.

"The war will continue for many months until Hamas is eliminated and the hostages are returned. We will guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel. Step by step we are depriving Hamas of their capabilities... We will also eliminate the leaders,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking about the progress towards a new hostage deal, said, “Hamas has issued all kinds of ultimatums that we’ve not accepted.” He added that if a viable deal is possible, “it will be carried out.”

“We see a possibility, maybe, for movement,” he said, further emphasising, “I don’t want to raise exaggerated expectations.”

Two anti-ship ballistic missiles, which were fired from Yemen on Saturday (Dec 30), were shot down by a US destroyer as it was responding to a distress call sent by a container ship which was hit in another strike, the military said.

In a social media post, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the missiles were launched from territory controlled by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, describing it as the "23rd illegal attack by the Huthis on international shipping" since November 19.