Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will not be deterred by the International Court of Justice from pursuing its Gaza war until total victory, after South Africa lodged a case accusing it of genocide against the Palestinians.
"No one will stop us - not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else. It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it," Mr Netanyahu told a televised press conference as the war in Gaza moves into its 100th day on Sunday.
He was referring to a case brought before the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, alleging Israel's offensive is in breach of the UN Genocide Convention, and an alliance of Iran-backed armed groups around the Middle East dubbed the Axis of Resistance.
He said the military assault in Gaza had already "eliminated most of the Hamas battalions" in the besieged Palestinian territory. But he said that those displaced from northern Gaza would not be able to return to their homes any time soon.
"There is an international law and it says a simple thing - you remove a population and you don't allow it to return as long as the danger exists," Mr Netanyahu said.
"And the danger exists. There is fighting there (in northern Gaza)."
Mr Netanyahu also said that a decision had yet to be made about a potential military takeover of the "Philadelphi Corridor" along Gaza's border with Egypt.
Telling reporters that sealing off the zone to isolate Hamas was an aim of Israel’s campaign, Mr Netanyahu said "there are a number of options," including moving forces into Philadelphi.
"We have looked into these and have yet to make a decision," he said.
The country’s army chief said in a televised address that Israelis are fighting in Gaza for their "right to live in safety" and will never forget the Hamas attack on 7 October.
"We do not forget and we will not forget, and we will continue to remind even those who try to deny it. We are fighting for our right to live here in safety," Herzi Halevi said.
It comes as health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza have said that Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 60 people. The besieged enclave is also grappling with a telecommunications blackout on the war's 99th day.
Fears of the conflict widening have intensified after US and British forces struck pro-Hamas Houthi rebels in Yemen following attacks on Red Sea shipping, with the US military announcing a fresh air strike today.
Witnesses in Gaza reported Israeli bombardment in the early morning. An AFP correspondent said intense shelling and air strikes hit the Palestinian territory's south overnight.
The Israeli army said its forces had struck dozens of rocket launchers that were "ready to be used" in central Gaza.
It also said it eliminated four "terrorists" in air strikes on Khan Younis, Gaza's major southern city, near Rafah.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, reported "more than 60 martyrs" in Israeli air strikes and artillery fire, with dozens more wounded.
Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza since Hamas's 7 October attack has killed at least 23,843 people, according to an updated toll today from the territory's health ministry.
The war, in which Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, began when the militants launched an attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
At Rafah's Al-Najjar hospital, mourners gathered and prayed around the bodies of dead relatives. One man held the body of a child, wrapped in white cloth, ahead of burial.
Internet and telecommunications services were cut yesterday as a result of Israeli bombardment, the main operator Paltel said, reporting the latest such disruption.
The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the outage was increasing the challenges in "reaching the wounded and injured promptly".
Winter rains have exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN estimates 1.9m people - nearly 85% of the population - have been displaced. Many have sought shelter in Rafah and other southern areas.
The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, said that Israel was blocking aid convoys into northern Gaza.
"They have been very systematic in not allowing us to support hospitals," said OCHA's head for the Palestinian territories, Andrea De Domenico, decrying "a level of inhumanity ... beyond comprehension".
In central Gaza, a lack of fuel forced the shutdown of the main generator of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the health ministry said.
Health ministry spokesman Mr Qudra accused Israel of "deliberately targeting hospitals...to put them out of service", warning of "devastating repercussions".
Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have been hit by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the war erupted.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of having tunnels under hospitals and using the medical facilities as command centres, a charge denied by the Islamist group.
Fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals are partly functioning, the World Health Organization has said.
In Israel, concern grew for hostages held in Gaza as they approach their 100th day in captivity.
Palestinian militants on 7 October seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
Yesterday, Mr Netanyahu's office said a deal had been negotiated with Qatar to get medicine to the captives.
Israeli campaign group Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a report this week saying the captives were in poor health, some with complex illnesses, others with injuries.
A diplomat familiar with the negotiations told AFP that both sides had expressed a willingness to allow the delivery of medicines, and a source close to Hamas said talks were ongoing.
Israel criticised the UN human rights office for not reiterating its calls for the release of the hostages in a statement marking the looming 100th day of the conflict.
"A call for a ceasefire, without demanding the release of our hostages and the disarming of Hamas, is a call for terrorism to win," its mission in Geneva said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called repeatedly for the hostages to be freed.
