GAZA, FEBRUARY 1

More than 27,000 people have been killed and 66,000 wounded by Israel's offensive in Gaza, the Hamas-controlled territory's Health Ministry said Thursday.

South Africa's foreign minister has accused Israel of ignoring last week's ruling by the United Nations' top court, which ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent deaths in Gaza.

The number of deaths has grown by more than 1,100 since the International Court of Justice in the Hague told Israel to do its best to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel denies the genocide accusations brought against it at the court by South Africa.

The Health Ministry said 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 wounded since Oct. 7. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths but says most of those killed were women and children.

The violence in Gaza continues to spill over into neighboring countries. Yemen's Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles on Thursday at a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Red Sea, a U.S. defense official said, the latest attack by the rebels as America launches airstrikes against them.

Israel's offensive was prompted by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities.