Israel-Gaza war live updates: Blinken presses Israel on Gaza’s future; Houthi attack repelled in Red Sea

Blinken will wrap up his Middle East tour after a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas will later meet Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Jordan for a summit on Gaza.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague will hold hearings this week on South Africa’s case accusing Israel of actions that amount to genocide in its war in Gaza. South Africa will present its case on Thursday, and Israel will do so on Friday.

Israel has arrested 38 Palestinian journalists, mostly from the occupied West Bank, since the war broke out, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. Thirty-one remain in Israeli prisons. The group described the wave of arrests as “unprecedented,” with the aim of “silencing” Palestinian media.

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike had killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for “dozens of terror activities against Israel using explosive UAVs.” In a statement on Telegram, Hezbollah denied that such a commander had been killed: “The Mujahid brother in charge of the UAV unit in Hezbollah was never subjected to any assassination attempt.”

At least 23,210 people have been killed in Gaza and 59,167 wounded since the war began, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.