The United Nations' top court has started hearings over allegations that Israel's war with Hamas amounts to genocide, which Israel strongly denies. South Africa is asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent days in strikes across the territory, including in areas of the far south where Israel told people to seek refuge. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with leaders across the Mideast, seeking to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza. Blinken spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday before flying to Manama, the capital of the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain.
