Live updates | Israel will defend itself on Day 2 of the UN top court's genocide hearings

Israel will defend itself against South Africa’s allegation that the war with Hamas amounts to genocide against Palestinians at the United Nations’ top court Friday

Israel was set to defend itself against South Africa’s allegation that the war with Hamas amounts to genocide against Palestinians at the United Nations’ top court Friday. Israel strongly denies the claim, and its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has blasted the allegations as hypocrisy.

Although the case is likely to take years to resolve, South Africa is asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

United States and British militaries launched strikes Thursday on sites used by Houthi rebels in Yemen in retaliation for their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas. But their targets increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East with Europe.

The Oct. 7 Hamas attack from Gaza into southern Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage by militants. Israel’s air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 people, some 70% of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Currently:

— Israel will defend itself at the U.N.’s top court against allegations of genocide.

— The U.S. and British militaries bomb more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

— Blinken sees a path to peace in Gaza, reconstruction and regional security after his Mideast tour.

— Find more of AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's what's happening in the war:

YEMEN'S HOUTHI REBELS SAY US-LED STRIKES TARGETING THEM KILLED 5 PEOPLE AND WOUNDED 6

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — United States-led airstrikes on Yemen killed at least five people and wounded six others, military spokesperson from the Houthi rebels Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Friday in a videotaped address.

“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” Saree said.

He described 73 strikes hitting five regions of Yemen under Houthi control. He did not elaborate on what the U.S.-led strikes targeted.

TESLA ANNOUNCES PRODUCTION STOPPAGE DUE TO RED SEA FIGHTING

BERLIN — The electric vehicle company Tesla announced it will halt most of its production for two weeks in its factory near Berlin, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11, due to the developing conflict in the Red Sea.

“The armed conflicts in the Red Sea and the associated shifts in transport routes between Europe and Asia via the Cape of Good Hope are also affecting production in Grünheide,” Tesla said in a statement Thursday night. “The significantly longer transport times create a gap in the supply chains.”

Normal operations are expected to begin again on Feb. 12, Tesla said in the statement.