RAFAH, GAZA STRIP -- Gaza's Health Ministry says people are still being killed in fighting in the northern part of the territory, the initial target of Israel's ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that has seen entire neighborhoods flattened.
The Health Ministry said more than 150 people were killed and an additional 313 wounded as Israeli forces continued to battle militants Wednesday. Israel's military said its forces killed more than 15 Hamas militants in northern Gaza in the past day and targeted militant infrastructure in a school.
South Africa's foreign minister alleged Israel is already ignoring the ruling by the UN's top court last week, which ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, by killing hundreds more civilians in a matter of days in Gaza.
The latest deaths bring the Palestinian death toll from Israel's offensive to 26,900, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths but says most of those killed were women and children.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, while the United States and more than a dozen other countries have said they are planning to suspend contributions to UNRWA -- the UN agency for Palestinian refugees -- after Israel alleged that 12 workers participated in the attacks that sparked the war. The heads of the World Health Organization, World Food Program, UNICEF and other agencies and partners said the "horrifying" allegations must not prevent the entire agency from helping people in need.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Here's the latest:
U.S. says Islamic resistance in Iraq is responsible for drone attack
WASHINGTON -- The United States has attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday the U.S. believes the attack was planned, resourced and facilitated by the group.
The Sunday drone attack on a military base in Jordan killed the three troops and injured at least 40 others. Kirby says President Joe Biden will continue to weigh response options to the attack but "the first thing you see won't be the last thing."
Netanyahu meets with group of UN ambassadors
JERUSALEM 鈥� Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a group of ambassadors to the United Nations from primarily European countries that Hamas has 鈥渋nfiltrated鈥� the main aid provider to Palestinians in Gaza and that it must be shut down.
Netanyahu鈥檚 remarks on Wednesday follow Israel's allegations that 12 employees with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, participated in Hamas鈥� Oct. 7 attacks in Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Those allegations prompted several countries to freeze funding to the agency, which fired nine of the workers. UNRWA said the agency, which employs 13,000 workers in Gaza, should not be punished for the alleged actions of a dozen employees.
Netanyahu told the group of eight visiting ambassadors that an alternative and impartial aid provider should be found.
Israel has long railed against UNRWA, accusing it of tolerating or even collaborating with Hamas and of perpetuating the 76-year-old Palestinian refugee crisis. The Israeli government has accused Hamas and other militant groups of siphoning off aid and using UN facilities for military purposes.
Iran threatens to 'decisively respond'
JERUSALEM 鈥� Iran threatened Wednesday to 鈥渄ecisively respond鈥� to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic following U.S. President Joe Biden鈥檚 linking of Tehran to the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a military base in Jordan.
The U.S. has signalled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also injured at least 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that鈥檚 been crucial to the American presence in neighbouring Syria.
However, concerns remain that any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by Israel鈥檚 ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing attacks by Yemen鈥檚 Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis late Tuesday, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime trade route, officials said.
UN agencies urge funding
GENEVA 鈥� An array of UN organizations that focus on refugees, humanitarian aid, migration, health, children, food, women, human rights and other issues have united in an appeal to some key donor countries to reconsider their plans to halt funding for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The United States and more than a dozen other countries have announced plans to suspend contributions to UNRWA after Israel alleged that 12 of its workers participated in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. UN officials fired most of the workers and vowed an investigation.
The heads of the World Health Organization, UNICEF, International Organization for Migration, World Food Program and other UN agencies and partners said allegations that 鈥渟everal鈥� UNRWA staffers were involved 鈥渋n the heinous attacks on Israel鈥� were 鈥渉orrifying.鈥�
鈥淗owever, we must not prevent an entire organization from delivering on its mandate to serve people in desperate need,鈥� the joint statement said.
鈥淒ecisions by various member states to pause funds from UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza,鈥� it said. 鈥淣o other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need.鈥�
鈥淲e appeal for these decisions to be reconsidered,鈥� the statement said.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres met behind closed doors with 35 donor nations and appealed for a restoration of funding as well as new support. The U.S. State Department said it expects to resume funding for UNRWA if the organization carries out a credible investigation into possible links between some staffers and the Hamas militant group.
Turkiye says aid should not be blocked
ISTANBUL -- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has urged the international community to act strongly to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
"The blocking of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gaza by Israel should never be accepted by the international community," he said at a news conference on Wednesday in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
Speaking alongside Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu, he added, "We cannot and must not remain silent while 2 million people are openly left to die of starvation and epidemic diseases under bombardment. World public opinion must once again be strong to prevent this massacre."
Fidan also called on Israel to implement last week's interim decision by the International Court of Justice to protect civilians and declare an immediate ceasefire.
EU aims to launch mission
BRUSSELS 鈥� The European Union plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen that are hampering trade and driving up prices, the bloc鈥檚 top diplomat said Wednesday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he wants the mission to be up and running by Feb. 17. Officials say that seven EU countries are ready to provide ships or planes. Belgium has already committed to send a frigate. Germany is expected to do the same.
Last week, U.S. and British forces bombed multiple targets in eight locations used by the Iranian-backed Houthis. It was the second time the two allies have conducted coordinated retaliatory strikes on the rebels鈥� missile-launching capabilities.
The Houthis have waged a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, but Borrell insisted that the EU mission will not take part in any military strikes.
Destroyer shoots down missile
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Red Sea shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by Yemen鈥檚 Houthi rebels, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime route, officials said Wednesday.
The attack late Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the U.S. military鈥檚 Central Command said in a statement.
鈥淭here were no injuries or damage reported,鈥� the statement said.
A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed the attack in a statement Wednesday morning, calling it 鈥渁 victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and a response to the American-British aggression against our country.鈥�
Saree claimed the Houthis fired 鈥渟everal鈥� missiles, something not acknowledged by the U.S. Navy. Houthi claims have been exaggerated in the past, and their missiles sometimes crash on land and fail to reach their targets.
