Israel’s defense minister says the military will send more troops into Rafah, a city along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, as fighting also rages in northern Gaza, where Hamas has regrouped. South Africa is seeking emergency measures at the U.N.’s top court to halt Israel’s escalating offensive in Rafah, calling the incursion “the last step in the destruction of Gaza.” Israel has portrayed Rafah as the last Hamas stronghold, brushing off warnings from the United States and other allies that any major operation there would be catastrophic for civilians. The United Nations says around 600,000 Palestinians have been driven out of Rafah since the beginning of last week.

Violence is raging across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day. France has imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory. Authorities boosted security forces’ powers to quell deadly unrest in the archipelago, where some residents have long sought independence from France. French authorities in New Caledonia and the Interior Ministry in Paris reported on Thursday that five people, including two police officers, have been killed in the violence. The unrest came after protests earlier this week over voting reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government turned deadly. At least sixty members of the security forces were injured and 214 people were arrested in Thursday's clashes. That's according to the territory's top French official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership that has deepened as both countries face rising tensions with the West. They criticized U.S. military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region. Putin on Thursday thanked China’s proposals for ending the war in Ukraine. The plan has been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin’s line. Putin’s two-day visit to China comes as Russian forces are pressing an offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

The Pentagon says that humanitarian aid will soon begin flowing onto the Gaza shore through the new pier that was anchored to the beach overnight and will reach those in need almost immediately. Trucks will drive the aid into the Palestinian enclave, besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The United Nations, however, warns that fuel imports have all but stopped and this will make it extremely difficult to deliver the aid to the more than a million Palestinians in critical need of food and other supplies.