The Latest | South Africa says UN court should order Israel to let more aid into Gaza

South Africa has gone back to the United Nations’ top court seeking additional orders for Israel to let humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, citing “widespread starvation” in the devastated Palestinian territory.

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins. International pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

South Africa accuses Israel of violating provisional measures imposed by the International Court of Justice on Jan. 27, when judges ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Israel’s near-total blockade of Gaza and the ongoing fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

— Houthi missile attack kills two crew members in Yemen rebels’ first fatal assault on shipping.

— The hostage crisis poses a dilemma for Israel and offers a path to victory for Hamas.

— Few Americans want U.S. more involved in current wars in Ukraine and Gaza, AP-NORC poll finds.

— A Mideast Starbucks franchisee is firing 2,000 workers after being targeted in an Israel-Hamas war boycott.

— Indiana lawmakers in standoff on antisemitism bill as critics of Israel seek changes.

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

Here's the latest:

AT LEAST 15 KILLED BY THREE ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES IN CENTRAL GAZA

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 15 people were killed by three Israeli airstrikes that hit buildings in central Gaza.

The bodies were taken to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where an Associated Press journalist counted the bodies as they arrived. People were reported to be still trapped under the rubble.

Two strikes hit buildings in Deir al-Balah and a third in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

SOUTH AFRICA URGES U.N. COURT TO LET AID INTO GAZA AS PART OF GENOCIDE CASE AGAINST ISRAEL

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Citing “widespread starvation” in Gaza, South Africa is urging the United Nations’ top court to order Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the war-torn region, as part of an ongoing case alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza breaches the Genocide Convention.

South Africa, which filed the genocide case late last year at the International Court of Justice, said Wednesday it was compelled to seek more preliminary orders “in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation — brought about by the continuing egregious breaches” of the convention by Israel.

It is also accusing Israel of “manifest violations of the provisional measures” ordered by the court on Jan. 27, when judges ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

In a written request to the court Wednesday, South Africa urged the court to issue more orders, including that Israel “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address famine and starvation and the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza.”

BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY URGES VISTING ISRAELI WAR CABINET MEMBER TO ALLOW MORE AID INTO GAZA

LONDON — British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Wednesday pressed a member of Israel’s War Cabinet to increase the flow of aid into Gaza amid a dire humanitarian situation.

Cameron told Benny Gantz that Britain wants to see an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting, increased aid distribution by both land and sea and an expansion of the types of aid Israel allows into Gaza, according to a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Gantz stopped in London on the way back from a trip to Washington.

“The UK supports Israel’s right to self defense,’’ Cameron said in the statement. “But as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a legal responsibility to ensure aid is available for civilians. That responsibility has consequences, including when we as the UK assess whether Israel is compliant with international humanitarian law.’’

The meeting with Gantz came a day after Cameron told members of the House of Lords that people in Gaza “are dying of hunger” and Israel must let in more humanitarian aid.

“We’re still not seeing improvements on the ground,” Cameron said Wednesday. “This must change.”

PLANS FOR MORE AID TO WAR-TORN NORTHERN GAZA ARE IN THE WORKS, ISRAELI OFFICIALS SAY

JERUSALEM — Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza appear to be gaining momentum.

Two Israeli officials say the government will begin allowing aid to move directly from Israeli territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the creation of a sea route from Cyprus. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the upcoming shipments with the media.

While aid groups say all of Gaza is mired in crisis, the situation in the largely isolated north stands out. Many there have been reduced to eating animal fodder and acute malnutrition is rampant among young children.

Israel would allow 20 to 30 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza from Israel on Friday, the start of more regular deliveries via that route, one of the officials said. It will also begin doing security checks Sunday on aid in Cyprus before it’s delivered via sea to Gaza, the official said.

The ship will be part of a pilot project to test the feasibility of the sea route. The aid is UAE-funded and made possible with U.S. involvement.

To reach the largely cut-off areas in the north, aid trucks have to drive through the conflict zone from the Rafah crossing with Egypt or the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, both on the southern edge of Gaza.

The European Union increased pressure Wednesday for the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister David Cameron has said Israel’s allies are losing patience.

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Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg and Julia Frankel contributed.

PALESTINIAN FACTIONS AND JORDAN DECRY ISRAEL’S PLAN FOR EXPANSION OF WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Jordan have all strongly condemned Israel’s approval of 3,500 new housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the news a “slap in the face” to nations who “called for an end to settlement activities.”

The plans drew U.S. condemnation when first announced, but did not yield an immediate American response Wednesday.

“The international community, especially the American administration, is facing a real test to stop this Israeli aggression, and to turn words into actions, by implementing the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law, which considers all settlements illegal,” said Nabil Abu Rudeinah.

The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule over parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security.

When asked about the new settlement plans, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, “Our position on settlements remains constant and unchanged, that they are illegal under international law, whether (they) exist or those that are being built ... and we do not think they are conducive, to say the least, to a two-state solution.”

The spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the new settlement expansion was “aimed at changing the existing historical and legal situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Hamas said the move was “nothing but a message of defiance and recklessness from the Zionist government headed by war criminals.”

The plans, which were announced by Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, received approval Wednesday from the Higher Planning Council, the Israeli body which authorizes West Bank construction.

The decision advances plans for housing units in two settlements, Maale Adumim and Kedar, to a public comment phase. The other plan in the settlement of Efrat now advances to final approval stage.

2 KILLED IN YEMEN HOUTHI MISSILE ATTACK ON SHIP, U.S. OFFICIALS SAY

WASHINGTON — A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a ship in the Gulf of Aden killed two of its crew Wednesday.

That’s according to two U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they did not have authorization to speak publicly about the killings on board the True Confidence.

The officials said the Barbados-flagged vessel was no longer under the command of the crew and that they had abandoned it. A U.S. warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed the attack on the vessel and insisted their assaults would continue as long as Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip continues.

The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn’t halted the rebels’ attacks.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, the vessel had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on installments. Oaktree declined to comment.

A LIKELY YEMEN HOUTHI ATTACK HITS A SHIP, CAUSING THE FIRST ‘FATALITIES’ IN THE ASSAULTS ON SHIPPING

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden caused “fatalities” and forced the crew to abandon the vessel on Wednesday, authorities said, the first fatal attack in a campaign of assaults by the group over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack came as a U.S. destroyer separately shot down drones and a missile launched by the Houthis and as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the rebels.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis didn’t immediately claim the attack, although it typically takes several hours for them to acknowledge an assault.

The extent of the damage to the Liberian-flagged ship remained unclear, but the crew fled the ship and deployed lifeboats — signaling a serious incident, said a U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Two other U.S. officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity as they didn’t have authorization to speak publicly, acknowledged the attack caused “fatalities,” without elaborating.

The attack Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden targeted a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier called True Confidence, which earlier had been hailed over radio by individuals claiming to be the Yemeni military, officials said. The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since launching their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center described the True Confidence as reportedly being hit in the attack and sustaining damage. The UKMTO on Wednesday night acknowledged the ship had been abandoned by its crew and was no longer under command.