The U.N.'s top court said it will rule Friday on a request by South Africa to order Israel to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.

South Africa has petitioned the International Court of Justice for emergency measures to order Israel to "cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip" including in Rafah city, where it is pressing an offensive.

The stunning announcement that the International Criminal Court is considering issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity has ignited a fierce debate about the court's future as an independent arbiter.

The request by Prosecutor Karim Khan against the leader of a close U.S. ally also comes as the United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, is investigating whether Israel has committed genocide during its seven-month war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's shutdown and seizure of an Associated Press video camera that provided a live glimpse into Gaza alarmed many journalists, who worried Tuesday about wider implications for coverage of a war largely fought out of the world's sight to begin with.

After widespread condemnation, including a call by the Biden administration for Israel to back off, authorities returned the AP's equipment late Tuesday. Israel had justified its move by saying the agency violated a new media law that bans Al Jazeera, since the Qatari satellite channel is one of thousands of customers that receive live AP video.

Chaim Otmazgin had tended to dozens of shot, burned or mutilated bodies before he reached the home that would put him at the center of a global clash.

Working in a kibbutz that was ravaged by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, Otmazgin — a volunteer commander with ZAKA, an Israeli search and rescue organization — saw the body of a teenager, shot dead and separated from her family in a different room. Her pants had been pulled down below her waist. He thought that was evidence of sexual violence.

Israel's more than seven-month war in Gaza since the October 7 attack has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

Norway, Spain and Ireland all announced plans on Wednesday to recognize a State of Palestine, breaking with the long-held position of Western powers that a Palestinian state can only come as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

When Karim Khan was sworn in as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, he said the court should be judged by its acts -- "the proof of the pudding should be in the eating."

And by seeking arrest warrants for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Hamas figures, Khan has shown he is not afraid to take on the world's most controversial cases.

Norway, Spain, and Ireland will recognize Palestine as a state as of May 28, Prime Ministers Jonas Gahr Store, Pedro Sanchez and Simon Harris said Wednesday, despite warnings from the Israeli government.

"Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain's cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state," Sanchez said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in "danger" with his policy of "pain and destruction" in the Gaza Strip.

At least 10 people died in Egypt when a minibus plunged off a river ferry and into the Nile north of Cairo on Tuesday, the health ministry said.

"The toll is at 10 and might rise," spokesman Hossam Abdelghaffar told AFP. The Al-Ahram newspaper first reported on the accident and said the driver, who had released the handbrake, was arrested while trying to flee.

Israel's foreign minister was headed to France on Tuesday in a bid to contain the fallout from the decision by the prosecutor of the world court to request arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, a move supported by several European countries, including key ally France.

France, as well as Belgium and Slovenia, each said Monday they backed the move by International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, who accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Syrian first lady Asma Assad has been diagnosed with leukemia, the office of President Bashar Assad announced Tuesday.

The president's wife was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia "after presenting with several symptoms and following a comprehensive series of medical tests and examinations," the statement said.