Live updates: Middle East crisis

Pakistan's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Syed Haider Shah, delivered a forceful oral statement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday, denouncing Israel's actions in Gaza as severe violations of international law.

Ambassador Shah specifically highlighted what he termed Israel's "egregious breaches" of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations through its conduct towards the UNRWA. 

He strongly condemned Israel's efforts to dismantle the UNRWA's operations in Gaza, labelling it a blatant violation and part of a systematic campaign to obstruct crucial humanitarian aid to millions of Palestinians facing dire circumstances.

He underscored the urgent need for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza and called for Israel to be held accountable for imposing collective punishment by withholding aid from civilians.

Israeli forces have continued to pound the Gaza Strip with at least 31 Palestinians killed over the past 24 hours, including women and children, Al Jazeera reported.

Medical sources said that more deaths have been reported from Israeli attacks early on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the UNRWA has said 3,000 trucks ready to deliver aid to Gaza are waiting to cross into the Strip, but are unable to enter as Israel's blockade of humanitarian supplies enters a third month.

WHO executive director, Michael Ryan called the aid situation "an abomination" and said children in Gaza are being starved. At the same time, top UN relief chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to "let humanitarians save lives".

Israel has ordered Palestinians residing in parts of the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the occupied West Bank to leave their homes within 24 hours before slated demolitions, Al Jazeera reported, citing reports from the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It quoted Abdullah Kmeil, Tulkarem’s governor, as saying the Israeli military order is targeting 58 buildings in the city and another 48 homes in Nur Shams.

Kmeil said the demolitions are an “unprecedented crime” against the people of Tulkarem and its refugee camps and called on the international community to intervene.

This year, as part of a wide-scale incursion into the northern West Bank, Israeli forces raided both camps and started bulldozing homes, demolishing shops and tearing up roads.

More than 40,000 people have already been displaced, including those who reside in Jenin’s refugee camp – also in the northern West Bank.

Hamas has issued a statement in response to Switzerland’s upcoming enforcement of a new law banning the group and its affiliated organisations, set to take effect on 15 May, Al Jazeera reported.

The movement has condemned Switzerland’s decision, calling it a dangerous bias in favour of the occupation. Hamas argues that this ban contradicts Switzerland’s legal and humanitarian obligations.

Furthermore, the group has urged Switzerland to act in accordance with its political and moral commitments by addressing the Israeli government’s alleged violations of international law. Hamas insists that urgent action is required to counter these violations by the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Hamas calls on Switzerland to reconsider its decision, emphasising the importance of supporting justice. The movement appeals for solidarity in its struggle to end what it describes as occupation.

Israeli forces shot and killed a 29-year-old man during a raid into the town of Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported, citing a report from the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It cited the Red Crescent as saying the man sustained wounds in the chest and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, but quickly succumbed to his wounds.

The incident took place as Israeli soldiers stormed the town amid heavy gunfire.

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron, and the village of Qaryut, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported.

The northern West Bank has seen a surge in Israeli military operations and violence from Israelis from illegal settlements, leading to casualties, including the killings and arrests of Palestinians.

In January, Israeli forces launched a major incursion involving thousands of soldiers in cities and refugee camps in the area, killing dozens of people. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes since the operation began.

Israeli troops have swept through refugee camps in Jenin and nearby cities, including Tulkarem, demolishing houses and basic infrastructure, including roads and water pipes.

The Executive Director of the World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the "minds and bodies" of children in Gaza were being "broken", following two months of aid blockade and renewed strikes.

"We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza. We are complicit," Deputy Director General Dr Michael Ryan told reporters at the WHO's headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, urging the international community to act.

"As a physician I am angry. It is an abomination," he said.

Pakistan strongly condemned atrocities being committed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), particularly in Gaza and expressed unwavering solidarity with Palestine at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In his oral statement before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague today, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Syed Haider Shah, highlighted Israeli atrocities in Gaza other areas of Palestine.

He emphasised that Israel’s conduct towards the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reflected one of the most egregious breaches of the privileges and immunities of an international organisation in the history of the UN.

The Pakistani ambassador condemned in the strongest possible terms Israel’s attempt to dismantle the operations of UNRWA in the OPT, terming it a blatant violation of international law and part of Israel’s systematic campaign to deny much-needed humanitarian aid to millions of Palestinians in dire need.

He underscored the need for providing unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza and to hold Israel accountable for the imposition of collective punishment through the denial of humanitarian aid to millions of civilians.

Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say.

Palestinian residents and aid officials said at least five incidents of looting took place across the enclave on Wednesday, including at community kitchens, merchants' stores, and the UN Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) main complex in Gaza.

Israeli forces are continuing their aerial and ground offensive across Gaza in the war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas that began nearly 19 months ago. Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed at least 12 people, the territory's health ministry said.

The looting "is a grave signal of how serious things have become in the Gaza Strip -- the spread of hunger, the loss of hope and desperation among residents as well as the absence of the authority of the law," said Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza.