The UN's top court rules that Israel must take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, but stops short of ordering an immediate halt to operations
Judges at the International Court of Justice delivered an interim ruling in South Africa's genocide case against Israel
Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, says the judges ruled "in favour of humanity and international law"
Meanwhile, PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will "continue to defend ourselves and our citizens while adhering to international law"
A verdict on South Africa's allegation of genocide is not expected for years; Israel strongly denies the accusation, calling it "baseless"
Meanwhile, US media report that the head of the CIA is due to meet Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials in the coming days to discuss a new potential ceasefire in Gaza
Israel's retaliatory attacks in Gaza have killed 25,900 people, mostly women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry says
The current war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 240 hostages
Anna Holligan
Reporting from The Hague
Such was the silence as the judges entered the courtroom, some journalists asked if there was a problem with the sound on the live stream.
Presiding Judge Joan Donoghue starts by reading a summary of South Africa's request, submitted under the Genocide Convention.
Today's court session is now beginning. As we've been reporting, the court will consider nine emergency measures proposed by South Africa, but not its allegation of genocide - which Israel strongly denies.
Among those measures will be Israel suspending military operations immediately in Gaza.
It may be a while until we get a ruling on that and the other eight measures, but stay with us for updates, reaction and analysis.
You can also watch by clicking the Play button above.
The hearing is about to start in a few minutes.
Inside the great hall of justice, judges are about to deliver what could be a momentous ruling.
Here are a couple of pictures taken from inside the courtroom.
Image source, ReutersThe majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people are displaced and fight daily to find food, drink and medicine as Israel's offensive continues in the wake of Hamas's attacks on 7 October.
Efforts involving several countries to try to reach a ceasefire are ongoing, and South Africa hopes its case in the ICJ will halt Israel's military operations in Gaza.
A final decision on South Africa's genocide allegations - which Israel strongly denies - are not expected for several years.
The case also seeks to highlight the suffering of Palestinians, and the nine "provisional measures" which South Africa wants the ICJ to impose aim "to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people".
Israeli lawyers have argued that while civilian suffering in Gaza was "tragic", Hamas sought "to maximise civilian harm to both Israelis and Palestinians, even as Israel seeks to minimise it".
Earlier today, the UN rights office warned that relentless attacks against infrastructure in Gaza were making the Palestinian enclave "completely uninhabitable".
More than 570,000 people in Gaza face "catastrophic hunger," the UN said this week.
As we've been reporting, South Africa has asked the ICJ to consider nine emergency measures , externalit is proposing.
These are:
Israeli and Palestinian supporters have been gathering outside the Peace Palace, home to the International Court of Justice, in the Hague, in the Netherlands, ahead of today's ruling.
Here are a couple of pictures taken there.
We're expecting to hear from the International Court of Justice in about 30 minutes. Here's a quick reminder of what today is about and how we got here:
Correction 13 February: This post wrongly reported that about 1,300 people had been killed following the 7 October attack by Hamas. This was based on counting those who later died from their injuries in addition to the figure of more than 1,200. The article has been amended to now refer to about 1,200 deaths, a figure which includes those deaths and which Israel says is not final.
At 12:00 GMT, the International Court of Justice will hand down its ruling in the Hague.
It will be a majority ruling, with the president of the court casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie.
The president of the court, who will deliver the ruling, is Judge Joan E. Donoghue.
Donoghue is an American lawyer who was elected to the ICJ in 2010. Before that she was a legal adviser in the US State Department in the Obama administration.
She is the second woman to hold the post of president and the third American.
As a reminder, the court has 15 justices plus one each from Israel and South Africa.
Image source, EPAJudge Joan E. Donoghue, second from the left, will read the court's order
Daniel De Simone
Reporting from Johannesburg
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been in government for 30 years, but it spent even longer as an anti-apartheid liberation movement.
For many years it had a paramilitary wing and was close to various foreign revolutionary groups, including Palestinian ones.
That history remains core to the ANC’s identity and outlook.
Palestinian people are seen as fundamental allies by the party.
It sees parallels with its struggle against apartheid - a policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the white-minority government in South Africa against the country's black majority, until the first democratic elections, in 1994.
The country condemned the 7 October attacks and called for the release of the hostages.
Nelson Mandela, after becoming South Africa's president, stated “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.
Image source, ReutersIsrael's national carrier El Al has this morning said it will suspend flights to Johannesburg from March due to what it says is a drop in demand in the wake of South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
"Israelis don't want to fly to South Africa," a spokeswoman for the airline said. El Al currently has up to two non-stop flights to Johannesburg a week.
"They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty... We understand it's the situation because it was different before," the spokeswoman added.
"The fact that the Israelis don't want to go to South Africa but do want to go to other places helps us decide that we're pausing that route," she said. The company also cited the current security situation.
With an hour or so to go to the ICJ ruling, South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Mandisa Pandor has said her government has approached the case "in a positive spirit".
"Today, I think, the Palestinian issue is front and centre of the world. And that is a very important achievement through this case brought by South Africa," she added.
As we've been reporting, the hearing at the ICJ today is part of a case brought by South Africa, which asks the court to consider whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent
Image source, ReutersThe ICJ is not about to rule on whether Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza.
That ruling is probably some years away, but in the meantime, the court is expected to decide whether South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel is plausible, and if so, whether what are known as "provisional measures" are appropriate.
South Africa has asked for nine separate measures, including the immediate suspension of Israel’s military operations and a significant easing of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, in order to avoid any possibility of genocide.
The ICJ's rulings are not enforceable and Israel could – and almost certainly would – choose to ignore its call for a ceasefire.
The court could grant all or some South Africa’s provisional requests, or possibly order new ones.
Israel has argued that South Africa’s case has no merit and should be rejected in its entirety.
The case could be thrown out on a technicality: Israel argued that the two countries were not “in dispute” (required by the ICJ rules), saying that South Africa had barely communicated with Israel before applying to the court.
But if the court finds that South Africa’s case is at least plausible, this could have severe diplomatic and commercial consequences for Israel.
It’ll be interesting to see how the ICJ's 15 permanent judges differ.
The west and global south are both well-represented on the bench (Israel and South Africa have both appointed ad-hoc judges for this case, as the rules permit).
Will their views reflect the world’s strongly divergent opinions on the war in Gaza?
Image source, Family handoutEden Yerushalmi's family say they were told she had been taken hostage.
When Hamas attacked on 7 October, militants took an estimated 240 people hostage into Gaza.
Since then, a total of 110 hostages have been released.
Seventy-eight of them are Israeli women and children, who were freed as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas.
Separately, twenty-three Thai hostages and one Filipino were freed as part of a separate deal between Hamas and the Thai government.
Eight others have also been released.
Israel says 132 people remain unaccounted for in Gaza, and that 25 of those are believed to be dead.
You can read about those believed to still be captive here.
Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem
As we await the hearing in the Hague, there appears to be some progress on diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Gaza.
US reports say that the CIA director, William Burns is due to meet Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials in Europe in the coming days to try to advance talks on a new deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
These talks – which haven’t been officially confirmed – are being seen as further evidence that what the White House has described as “sober” and “serious” efforts are under way to bring about a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Significantly, they involve players who were key to sealing a previous agreement in November.
Image source, EPADisplaced Palestinians hold empty pots and buckets as they wait to receive food aid
The UN has repeatedly warned of the ever-increasing severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Since the war began, it says, some 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, many repeatedly. Tens of thousands are living in makeshift tents or under plastic sheets.
Current UN estimates suggest 60% of homes have been destroyed or damaged, nine in every 10 schools have suffered "significant damage", most hospitals have stopped working and other public facilities, including electricity networks have been hit.
When the war began, Israel stopped all imports of food, medicine, power and fuel into Gaza. It has since allowed some aid in, but the UN says the amount is a fraction of what is needed.
UN reports have warned famine is imminent, access to safe drinking water is a “struggle” and infectious diseases are spreading rapidly.
Turning away from today's court ruling briefly, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has released updated casualty figures for the territory - it says 200 people were killed there in the last 24 hours.
The health ministry says some 25,900 people have now been killed since Israel began its offensive in Gaza following the 7 October attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took more than 240 hostage.
Correction 13 February: This post wrongly reported that about 1,300 people had been killed following the 7 October attack by Hamas. This was based on counting those who later died from their injuries in addition to the figure of more than 1,200. The article has been amended to now refer to about 1,200 deaths, a figure which includes those deaths and which Israel says is not final.
Anna Holligan
Reporting from The Hague
Image source, bbcPolice are poised to put up barricades to ensure rival groups of protesters are kept apart.
During the last court session two weeks ago, I witnessed a couple of heated exchanges. This time authorities are prepared.
Israel is sending a delegation of five soldiers who have recently served in Gaza to the Hague to be present when the ruling is announced.
The advocacy organisation behind the move, DiploAct, says the soldiers are there to "proclaim Israel's truth" ahead of the decision and represent soldiers who have served for Israel.
We are expecting the court's judges to hand down their decision from 12:00GMT.
Mark Lowen
Reporting from Jerusalem
Image source, EPAWhat the ICJ judges say in the Hague will be watched closely here – even if a defiant Israeli government might not be prepared to admit it publicly.
“Nobody will stop us”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently, “not The Hague, not the[Iran-led] axis of evil and not anybody else.”
When South Africa asked the court to issue provisional measures, Tal Becker, who represented Israel, called it an “unconscionable request” that “seeks to thwart Israel’s inherent right to defend itself.”
The Israeli government believes a growing number of international institutions are biased against it and are taking the court of international public opinion with them. Various UN bodies, including the World Health Organisation, have recently incurred its wrath. The ICJ could be next.
But while Israel often brushes off its critics, it knows that the World Court’s words could reinforce an international narrative. Netanyahu convened a meeting with top officials to prepare for the ICJ’s decision.
On the Palestinian side, they will be hoping that whatever emerges adds legal heft to their calls for a ceasefire and more delivery of aid.
And, some 26,000 deaths, according to Gazan health officials, they are just desperate for anything – pressure, diplomacy, judges in the Hague – to ease their suffering.
Anna Holligan
Reporting from The Hague
International media crews have gathered outside the Peace Palace, home to the ICJ.
There aren’t any protesters here yet, like we saw during the oral hearings two weeks ago.
That's got nothing to do with the blustery weather, but rather the fact the announcement that the ruling on provisional measures to be delivered today was given at relatively short notice, meaning everyone, including ICJ staff have been scrambling to prepare.
