Day 97 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Jan. 11

As its genocide case against Israel opened at the International Court of Justice, South Africa had three hours to lay out what it says are a series of violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention and Israel will respond on Friday.

Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.

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Live updates (all times EDT):

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024

9:52 pm: Oil prices surge on Red Sea escalation

Oil prices surged four percent on Friday after US and UK forces launched strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels following their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, fueling worries about a wider conflict in the crude-rich region. Read the full story here.

6:59 pm: Yemen rebels say US, UK interests 'legitimate targets' after strikes

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said Friday that US and British interests were "legitimate targets" after they launched deadly strikes against the rebels following weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping. Read the full story here.

6:36 pm: US, UK carry out strikes against Yemen's Houthis following Red Sea attacks

The United States and the United Kingdom carried out precision strikes on a dozen military sites used by the Houthis in Yemen on Thursday night in response to the group's continued attacks on commercial cargo ships and tankers in the Red Sea since the outbreak of the Gaza war. Jared Szuba reports.

4:45 pm: US seeks diplomatic deal to contain Israel-Lebanon escalation 

The White House dispatched senior advisor Amos Hochstein to Lebanon on Thursday as the Biden administration works to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from spreading into a wider regional conflict.  Elizabeth Hagedorn reports.

2:30 pm: US, UK mull strikes against Iran-backed Houthis following Red Sea attacks

The US and UK governments are mulling their response against Yemen's Houthi rebels following yet another attack on international shipping in the Red Sea on Thursday. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is holding an emergency call with his cabinet to assess a response to attacks by the Houthis, British media reported on Thursday. Adam Lucente and Jared Szuba report.

1:29 pm: What is next at ICJ as South Africa opens Israeli genocide case?

South Africa presented its complaint against Israel Thursday, accusing it of genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. At this first stage, South Africa is asking the court to issue a provisional order for Israel to halt all military activities in the Gaza Strip, stop any action that could be considered genocidal by Israeli troops or any individual or groups working with Israel, allow external bodies and journalists access to the region, submit a report to the court on the situation on the ground and enable free access to humanitarian aid. A decision by the court is expected within days. Rina Bassist reports.

11:45 pm: How is Middle East reacting to South Africa's Gaza genocide ICJ case against Israel?

The International Court of Justice in The Hague convened on Thursday for two days of preliminary hearings on a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel last month over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The event was met with gratification across the Middle East — outside Israel — imparting a sense of accountability for what's happening in Gaza, if only symbolically. Beatrice Farhat reports.

11:01 am: Saudi-Israel normalization emerges as leverage for post-war Gaza 

As the Biden administration clashes with Israel over a plan for Gaza's day after, it has suggested a historic peace accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel could be leveraged to secure a pathway for Palestinian statehood. Elizabeth Hagedorn reports.

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