a heavy price" and says the attacks on ships are set to continue. hello, i'm lucy grey. let me take you straight to these live pictures from the hague, where israel is presenting its response to the international court ofjustice — after south africa claimed its actions in gaza were genocide. it's the second and final day of hearings at the united nations�* highest court. south africa is asking the icj to issue an injunction to stop israel's military campaign and protect the palestinian people. the israeli argument is that all of its actions in gaza amount to self—defence — and that they were caused by hamas, an organisation which israel says is dedicated to its destruction, with instructions to evacuate, how

to do so. broadcast countless messages over radio and through social media, warning civilians to distance themselves from hamas operations, and made over 70,000 individual phone calls, including two occupants of the targets, warning them of impending attacks. this requires time, it requires resources, and intelligence. and the idf invests all of these to save civilian lives. here you can see the idf's civilian lives. here you can see the idf�*s arabic twitter account providing information for civilians to evacuate specific areas, including the location of shelters nearby. yet the applicant, astonishingly, claims that these efforts are in themselves genocidal. in other words, a measure intended

to mitigate harm to the civilian population, sometimes exceeding the requirements of the international humanitarian law, is proof, according to the applicant, of israel's intent to commit genocide. when in fact it proves the exact opposite. my third topic, with respect to the humanitarian situation, much attention was given by south africa to the situation, despite israel's efforts to mitigate harm there is no question that many civilians in gaza are suffering as a result of the war that hamas began. while israel is seeking to minimise civilian harm, hamas is doing everything in its power to use the civilian population and civilian

infrastructure for its own protection, thwarting humanitarian efforts aimed at alleviating the distress of the civilian population. further illustration of hamas�* tactics and israel's efforts can be found in tabs four and nine of the volume provided to the court. i now tend to describe just some of the humanitarian coordination efforts that israel has been engaged in and this will be further expanded on. israel maintains a dedicated military unit called cogat, responsible for routing coordination with international organisations in gaza with respect to various humanitarian aspects. it is cogat that man and operates the crossings, including the crossing through which prior to october seven, almost 20,000 gazans passed through to

israel daily for work. south africa showed a map yesterday with that crossing marked closed. what it failed to note is that the crossing was attacked on october seven by hamas, which murdered and kidnapped cogat staff and caused significant damage. here you can see some of that damage. nevertheless, cogat works around the clock to fulfil its role. it's large professional staff run numerous initiatives of which i will only mention a few. first, cogat manages a mechanism by which it maintains an up—to—date picture of the needs in gaza. it does this with the un, other international organisations, and states, whose

representatives sit in cogat�*s offices. cogat uses this monitoring to help donor states and organisations prioritise their eight efforts to fit the evolving situation on the ground. second, cogat facilitates the entry of aid into gaza. studio: that is the israeli side of the arguments being put on this, the second day of the two—day hearing. let's remind ourselves of the case against israel that south africa outlined yesterday. ronald lamola, south africa's justice minister, delivered the opening statement. in extending our hand to the people of palestine we do so in the full knowledge that we are part of a humanity that is at one. this was the way of our founding president nelson mandela. this is the spirit in south africa. 0n the prevention

and punishment of crime of genocide in 1998. this is the spirit in which we approach this quote. as a contracting party to the convention. this is a commitment to the people of palestine and israelis alike. as previously mentioned, the violence and the destruction in palestine and israel did not begin on the 7th of october 2023. the palestinians have experienced systematic operation and violence for the last 76 years. on the 6th of october 2023 and every day since october the 7th 2023. 0ur correspondent anna holligan has been covering the court case for us in the hague — and she gave me this update from outside the court this morning. israel has accused south africa of bringing this case, trivialising and recognising the genocide convention. trivialising and weaponising the genocide convention. israel's first speaker, the co—agent, said that, actually, what they had witnessed on the 7th

of october — the hamas attacks — was the largest calculated mass murder ofjews since the holocaust, and also pointed out that israel was one of the first countries to sign the genocide convention under which this case was brought by south africa. just to explain, if this were ruled against israel, the court doesn't have any power of enforcement, does it? but i suppose it would just add hugely to the political pressure on israel. pressure, absolutely. this is all down to interpretation. israel is arguing its acts in gaza since the 7th of october have been about self—defence, in line with international humanitarian law, that they have sought to move civilians out of harm's way in order to protect them — not as forced displacement as south africa alleged — and also defended statements by senior israeli politicians, saying that they had no genocidal intent.

i just want to take you around and show you, if we can, the scene outside the icj because, you are right, the court has no powers of enforcement, and yet any ruling that goes against israel — so the court could order provisional measures, an interim injunction asking israel to cease hostilities — if israel were to ignore that order, it would be seen as being in violation of international law, which would make it much harder for countries like the uk and us to continue supporting israel. just behind me, here, you might be able to make out in the background groups of palestinian supporters waving flags. among them, images of nelson mandela — south africa has drawn parallels between what's happening in gaza and apartheid south africa. i'll bring you back around to the peace palace now. you can't see them but, behind the gates, a little further down, police have created a cordon

to try to keep the two rival groups of supporters apart. israelis have gathered and have set up a symbolic shabbat table with images of some of the israelis who are still being held hostage by hamas in gaza, attached to the backs of empty chairs. this is turning into a legal battleground, and the decision from the judges here on these interim measures we are talking about — not the fundamentals, the merits of the case — the interim injunction will be ruled upon within a matter of weeks. the us, the uk and eight other countries which are taking part in a mission to protect shipping in the red sea — following a series of attacks by yemen's houthi rebels — say the aim of the air strikes in yemen overnight was to de—escalate tensions in the region.

this was the moment us warplanes took off from an aircraft carrier which is patrolling in the region. the us air force says its planes and those of its allies struck more than 60 targets at 16 locations — all of which were being used by the houthi rebels. four typhoon warplanes from the uk's royal air force also took part in the mission. they flew from cyprus, carrying guided bombs. all four aircraft returned to base. four other countries — australia, the netherlands, canada and bahrain — provided support to the mission. according to the us, more than 12 sites were hit across yemen — including what america says were houthi command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air—defence radar systems. among the areas targeted — the capital sanaa, and the port of hudaydah. these pictures were filmed in hudaydah. houthi is a five were killed and six

injured in the military action. there are large plumes of smoke reaching into the sky. the military action has been condemned by iran — which supports the houthis — and russia, which has requested an urgent un security council meeting. that's likely to take place at 1500 gmt on friday. how will the houthis actually strikes? here is our bbc international editor jeremy bowen with his analysis. the iranians are their allies, often talked about as proxies but they are allies, really. i have spent quite a lot of time with the houthis in yemen and they are people who are highly independently minded. they have a relish for getting involved in this kind of thing. they want to be involved in the war. and so the iranians have very much beefed up the kind of firepower they have, they even have anti—ship missiles, they even have anti—ship missiles, they have various kinds of ballistic missiles they can fire off, as well as drones, so they are well armed,

of course,. compared to the us and the royal navy, it is nothing like it. less the physical damage, it is more the fact that this is a dangerous situation for navigation. yes, they have taken a ship, they have hijacked a ship and forced it into one of their ports. they have also fired off weapons to them and caused some damage. it is not like they have some things but the fact is they are clearly commercial shipping countries who want to get very valuable cargo through the very narrow 16 mile wide straight which is the mouth of the red sea. they do not want to have hostile forces firing at them. apart from anything else, insurance costs and the rest of it go rocketing up and that is why they are taking that two—week detour around the cape of good hope. we're joined now by chair in international security at lancaster university, professor basil germond.

hello to you, thank you for coming on the programme. i said a few minutes ago and my interaction glenn 0chal introduction that the aim of this too is on course to de—escalate tensions in the region. do you think it will do that? it is tensions in the region. do you think it will do that?— it will do that? it is difficult to sa at it will do that? it is difficult to say at the _ it will do that? it is difficult to say at the moment. _ it will do that? it is difficult to say at the moment. the - it will do that? it is difficult to . say at the moment. the situation it will do that? it is difficult to - say at the moment. the situation has changed a lot for the past two days because up to then the houthis attacked commercial shipping. two days ago it attacked us and uk warships so that created a window of opportunity to do something more to target the houthis' position and thatis target the houthis' position and that is very important because, on the one hand, that will degrade the capability of the houthis, who further attack commercial shipping in the red sea, and also that might help determine them from attacks. so thatis help determine them from attacks. so that is the positive interpretation of the situation, but obviously

houthis are politically motivated actors and in a sense it might be well in their interest to provoke the us, the uk and to create escalation, especially given their relationship with iran. i5 escalation, especially given their relationship with iran.— escalation, especially given their relationship with iran. is that what ou think relationship with iran. is that what you think they _ relationship with iran. is that what you think they are _ relationship with iran. is that what you think they are doing? - relationship with iran. is that what you think they are doing? their i you think they are doing? their justification for their attacks on ships in the red sea was that they were targeting israeli ships or ships that were linked to israel or ships that were linked to israel or ships that were heading towards gaza but, as you say, there were these attacks on the warships in recent days and they haven't given an explanation for that in particular. what is their motivation in terms of these attacks?— what is their motivation in terms of these attacks? yes, those attacks on these attacks? yes, those attacks on the warships — these attacks? yes, those attacks on the warships are _ these attacks? yes, those attacks on the warships are worrying _ these attacks? yes, those attacks on the warships are worrying me - these attacks? yes, those attacks on | the warships are worrying me because i think that might be a clue that their overall objective is to destabilise the region. what is sure

is that what they have done so far on the disruption of the trading lane and the global supply chain has had huge impact, having a huge impact, and more and more rogue actors such as the houthis on the world stage understand they have a lot of rage around the western democracies when they find a way to disrupt maritime trade. h0??? democracies when they find a way to disrupt maritime trade.— democracies when they find a way to disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm dadd ? disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they — disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they are _ disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they are backed _ disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they are backed by _ disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they are backed by iran - disrupt maritime trade. how well i'm daddy? they are backed by iran but i daddy? they are backed by iran but in terms —— how well armed are they? these attacks on their capabilities, what can you tell us about that? the strike last what can you tell us about that? tue: strike last night what can you tell us about that? he strike last night have what can you tell us about that? tt2 strike last night have been quite substantive, so we can expect that there has been a real concrete degradation of the houthis' capabilities but i don't think it

will prevent any further attempt. what is really important to understand is that for the shipping sector, so as they have confidence in the red sea, the difference on the houthis missiles or boats, it must be 100% efficient because if it is not, you just want missile goes through the net, then the cost in terms of loss of life and cargo is so immense and shipping companies will still not be confident in using the red sea and will the global economy has to pay for that. thank ou for economy has to pay for that. thank you forjoining _ economy has to pay for that. thank you forjoining us. _ economy has to pay for that. thank you forjoining us, we _ economy has to pay for that. thank you forjoining us, we appreciate i you forjoining us, we appreciate your time, you forjoining us, we appreciate yourtime, prof you forjoining us, we appreciate your time, prof basil germond from lancaster university. thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's stay with those strikes in yemen, and hear from lord dannatt, a crossbench peer and former head

of the british army. he explained why the uk and the us committed to military action. this situation has been building over the last few days and a couple of weeks and we've seen evidence, growing evidence, of attacks by houthi missiles and drones on international shipping in the red sea. of course, that has begun to have quite a significant effect, diverting a lot of international shipping around the cape, obviously extending journey times for international trade and international commodity and increasing the costs of shipping. that, obviously, is going to have an effect on domestic economies. so the decision has been, i think, quite rightly taken, that action must be taken against the houthis to stop them attacking international shipping, to protect the international sea lanes of the world and, hence, we've seen the action that began late last night. you're live with bbc news.

let's stay with those attacks on yemen overnight. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has been monitoring developments from jerusalem — i asked her what reaction there had been from the region. it has been linked to the possibilities of regional escalation of the war in gaza. israel has not formally commented on what is happening but we have had hamas say that the us and the uk will bear responsibility for those strikes, for the impact on the security of the middle east. they have strongly condemned the strikes as well. otherwise, the saudis have been commenting and they have warned about the possibility of an escalation here. they said they are monitoring things very closely, that they are gravely concerned. of course, in recent months, the saudis have been involved in peace talks with the houthis, saudi arabia neighbours of yemen, where they are based. some strong words from the houthis in terms of what might happen next, in terms of what they have said, they have said the us and uk will pay a heavy price for this blatant aggression.

can you just explain first of all what the objective is of the houthis in terms of the attacks in the red sea? is it purely that they are trying to show their support for hamas? they are trying to show their support for hamas. they are backed by iran, as is hamas, and other organisations, armed organisations around the region. going back for years, now, the mass rallies the houthis have called, one of their official slogans is "death to america, death to israel", they will call for that when they're having rallies but until the war in gaza, we have not really seen any direct confrontation between the houthis, based in yemen, and israel itself. in the early days of the military offensive by israel, drones and missiles were being fired by the houthis towards the red sea, towards israel's red

sea resort of eilat. they were intercepted by israeli warplanes and its arrow missile defence system which was used operationally for the first time here. but then the houthis started to say that any ships that they saw as being linked to israel or heading to israeli ports were for them legitimate targets because of the ongoing war, although many of the attacks that we have seen by the houthis on commercial shipping vessels, of course, so much international concern, don't appear to have had any actual link to israel. so, what damage would these attacks have caused to the houthi military structure — and their ability to attack ships in the red sea? i asked our security correspondent frank gardner to explain. i think it's primarily about message sending. they have chosen the targets quite carefully — 60 targets in 16 locations including the capital sanaa and hudaydah, the main port.

they have hit airfields and missile storage sites and in one case at least a command and control centre, but they have tried, i think quite carefully, to minimise casualties. they have been after equipment and sites rather than people. but it's too early to judge whether they're a success or not. did they hit the targets they intended? yes. will they have the desired effect? i think that we're going to have to wait and see, because the houthis have vowed to continue their attacks on shipping and i think probably i would compare this to the missile strikes that took place against very limited targets in syria some years ago, in response to syria's use of chemical weapons. it didn't really have the desired effect. and the houthis are quite a resilient bunch — they are a tribal mountain militia

that have come down from sadda in the north of yemen — they took over the country illegally in 2014 — but they have amassed a very serious arsenal with iranian help, of drones, missiles, cruise missiles, antiballistic, anti—ship ballistic missiles. they have still got a lot of them left and they have vowed to inflict a painful retaliation on the us and uk, which i think the most likely form of that is that they will try to hit western warships in the way that they did on tuesday, where they mounted a complex mass attack — a combination of these drones and missiles — in an attempt to kind of overwhelm the air defences of those western warships. in the case of hms diamond, the royal navy type—25 destroyer, it had to rely in the end on its close—in support weapon, its 30mm 0erlikon cannon, because the missiles that it had were not on their own going to be enough to stop some

of the incoming ordnance. that's what they'll be looking to do, try and punch a hole in a western warship. can you just explain the motivation behind what the houthis are doing in the red sea? as you say, they have been attacking these warships. they were saying primarily that they were attacking israeli ships and ships that were heading towards what they call palestinian territories. "what are they getting out of it?" i suppose is my question. the houthis are punching way above their weight geopolitically because, up until now, their war, their conflict has been confined to the borders of yemen and just beyond, where they have been hitting targets in saudi arabia and in a couple of cases the uae, but they have decided tojoin in the gaza war on the side of hamas. they have professed themselves to be a part of the iranian—backed axis of resistance alongside hezbollah, hamas and any other iranian allies in the region. they have decided that they are

going to essentially police their part of the red sea coast and choose which ships can pass and which can't. they have accused a number of ships that have got no relation to israel and no connection whatsoever of being israeli—owned or israeli linked or calling at an israeli port and they have fired missiles at them. the western warships that are down there, rishi sunak is on a rare visit to ukraine to meet volodymyr zelensky. these pictures show him and members of the uk's defence staff travelling through ukraine by train. his visit coincides with an announcement that britain will give ukraine more than $3 billion in military support for the next financial year. it's the largest annual commitment the uk has made to ukraine since russia's invasion nearly three years ago. mr sunak is also expected to sign a new agreement which will commit britain to supporting ukraine's long term security. officials said the package would be

focused on providing long range missiles, air defence and artillery shells. a reminder of what is going on at the international court ofjustice right now in the hague. this is the second day of a two—day hearing. israel responding to allegations from south africa that it is committing genocide in gaza. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we have got a window of slightly less cold weather for the next couple of days. we did not see such widespread ice and frost around this morning, certainly compared to earlier in the week. still quite chilly and cloudy for many of us. but temperatures not as low as they have been. high pressure holding onto our weather. the winds rotating, coming in off the atlantic and the north sea, bringing quite a lot of moisture and that blanket of cloud for most of us. clearer skies today across scotland. could be the odd lingering misty patch around. temperature 2—4 across scotland but for most of us, typically 6—8.

into the evening and we will see this weather front in the north slipping further south, bringing a bit of overnight rain to scotland and some snow on the very highest mountains. that will slip further south across parts of northern ireland and northern england on saturday morning but either side of that, clear spells. a bit of frost first thing tomorrow, a colder morning than this morning. through the day on saturday, a fair amount of dry and bright weather, a few splashes of light rain for northern ireland, north wales and perhaps in the midlands. sunny spells breaking through the cloud either side of that. reasonably mild, 5—8 on saturday. still lower than average but not as cold as it has been. into sunday, the wind turns more northerly. you can see the white colours of snow showers starting to move in across north and north—eastern scotland in particular. most of us still relatively dry and quiet on sunday. the change in wind direction through sunday into monday brings a chance of some snow showers, particularly for parts of scotland and also some exposed coasts

around the irish sea and the north sea as well. heading through into tuesday, we could well see this area of low pressure starting to move in. the potentialfor a bit more sleet and snow for parts of northern ireland, scotland, perhaps into northern england for tuesday and wednesday. midweek onwards, as we head through wednesday and into thursday, we still have a cold northerly wind in the north. low pressure may well stay across france but it has the potential to be a bit further north. just a small chance on wednesday and thursday of wintriness in the far south of england but again it will mostly be parts of scotland and northern ireland that see the chance of something a bit more wintry. either way, next week looks colder with northerly wind setting in. some snow showers, could be some disruption. keep tuned to the latest forecast.

red sea warning — the boss of shipping giant maersk says global supply chains face "significant disruption" and higher costs are already being passed on to consumers. this is impacting all the goods, from medicine, to food, to anything that you would find on a supermarket shelf pretty much

is being impacted by this, hence the consequences and the need for quick mobilisation. welcome to world business report. i'm tadgh enright. we start in the middle east, where as you've been hearing, forces from the us and uk have launched strikes on houthi militants in yemen in response to their ongoing attacks on international shipping in the red sea. before those strikes took place, the boss of maersk — one of the world's biggest shipping companies — spoke to the bbc to warn of "significant disruption" to global supply chains because of the houthi attacks. maersk, like other shipping operators, is re—routing its vessels away from the red sea and suez canal. instead they are taking the long way round from asia to europe and around the cape of good hope.