Hamas

The U.N. Security Council will meet next week over the decision by the global body's top court calling for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, the council's presidency announced Friday.

The United States and Iraq have said they will begin discussions on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with Baghdad expecting the talks to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Jan. 26 at least 26,083 people have been killed in the war between the militant group and Israel.

Concern grew on Friday for civilians trapped by fighting around Khan Yunis in Gaza's south, with the top U.N. court set to rule in a case against Israel over alleged genocidal acts in its campaign against Hamas.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken over the phone with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the ongoing prosecution of Israel at the International Court of Justice over its massacres against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

In a grim escalation of violence in the southern Gaza Strip, at least 50 Palestinians lost their lives in the past 24 hours in the city of Khan Younis. The Ministry of Health in Gaza, under the control of the radical Islamist group Hamas, reported the devastating toll.

Israeli air strikes and ground operations were focused Thursday on the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, where the U.N. said nine people were killed by tank shelling at one of its shelters the day before.

The deadly incident came after the Israeli army said it had encircled the city, where footage released by the military showed soldiers engaged in urban combat amid ruined buildings.

The White House has condemned Wednesday's deadly shelling of a U.N. shelter in southern Gaza, reiterating its position that Israel has a "responsibility to protect civilians" as it prosecutes its war with Hamas.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, have concluded talks in the capital Ankara with the signing of 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding spanning various sectors.

The high-level talks marked the eighth meeting of the cooperation council between the two nations, held to enhance collaboration since its establishment in 2014.

Israel and Hamas have moved closer to reaching a 30-day truce in the Gaza Strip, during which Israeli hostages and Palestinians could be released from Israeli prisons, Reuters reported.

However, the Israeli offensive in the town of Khan Yunis in the southern part of the enclave continues.