0n the second and final day of hearings at the un s highest court, lawyers acting for israel argued that demands by south africa for a stop to the offensive in gaza lacked any merit. yesterday, south africa accused the highest levels of the israeli state of nurturing genocidal intent against palestinians in gaza. it wants the icj to issue an injunction to stop israel s military campaign. israel s foreign ministry adviser, tal becker, said south africa s case lacked any merit. the applicant has regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted factual and legal picture. the entirety of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualised and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities. south africa purports to come to this court in the lofty position of a guardian of the interest of humanity. but in delegitimising israel s 75 year existence in its opening presentation yesterday, that broad commitment
threatened escalation, as you would expect, but on the other hand seemed to take pains to underscore that the houthis were not intent on attacking vessels that were not headed towards israel, which might be interpreted as an attempt on their part to climb down but it is hard to say. it is entirely possible that the houthis continue to indiscriminately attack shipping transiting the red sea. the target that was chosen was quite broad and included what might be quite high value targets for the houthis so one would think that might be something they interpret as serious a statement of intent. dr sidharth kaushal, good to talk to you, thank you for your time. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let s stay with those strikes in yemen, and hear from lord dannatt, crossbench peer and former head of the british army. he explained why the uk and us committed to military action. this situation has been building over the last few days and a couple of weeks and we ve seen evidenc
israel said it had been acting to try to protect and preserve civilian life. so now it s all over, at least for now. israel had three hours, south africa had three hours, and now it s down to the judges to make their interpretation of the evidence presented by both sides. and back injust a moment. good evening. it s been a much colder week, with frosty scenes across the uk, and at least it s been drier. now, we do have some rain to come in the north overnight and at first tomorrow, but more significantly, this weather front will introduce even colder air surging down from the arctic on strong winds. so it will feel pretty bitter as we head into next week, with some severe frosts and a greater risk of snow. but i ll come back to that. for the meantime, as we go
nations to directly take part. a more limited contribution four raf typhoons flying from their base in cyprus, loaded with guided bombs. it took them several hours to reach their targets in yemen. it s clear that this type of behaviour can t be met without a response. we need to send a strong signal that this breach of international law is wrong. people can t act like this with impunity, and that s why, together with allies, we ve decided to take this action. houthi rebels in yemen, backed by iran, have already scared off trade through one of the busiest sea lanes notjust boarding ships, but targeting them with armed drones and missiles. they say it s in response to israel s attacks in gaza, and in support of palestinians. in reality, it s risking a wider conflict. the us and uk say their goal has only been to reduce tensions. the targets, they say, only military houthi radars, drone and missile sites and command centres. this footage from one of the two raf strikes. at this stag
with the south africa presenting its argument. let s listen back to yesterday s closing statement from the lawyer representing their legal team. the international community continues to fail the palestinian people, despite the overt, dehumanising, genocidal rhetoric, dehumanising, genocidal rhetoric by israeli governmental and military officials matched by the israeli army s actions on the ground. despite the horror of the genocide against the palestinian people being livestreamed from gaza to our mobile phones, computers and television screens, the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time in the desperate, so far vain, hope that the world might do something. let s go live to our correspondent anna holligan who is live at the