Israeli air strikes and ground operations were focused Thursday on the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, where the UN 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.

Hamas's press office also reported fierce clashes in the centre and west of Khan Yunis, while its health ministry counted multiple deaths overnight from strikes in the city and elsewhere in the territory.

On a stage inside the historical centre of Jeddah, the main gateway for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca, rapper Ty Dolla $ign asked his screaming Saudi fans a few questions.

"Where the hot girls at?" the dreadlocked 41-year-old American (real name: Tyrone William Griffin Jr) bellowed into the microphone during his set at the Balad Beast music festival.

"How many of you trying to get lit after the show tonight? How many of you trying to get faded?"

Moving away from dark clothing, Iranian designers are trying to strike a fine balance between a growing trend favouring bright colours and the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

"As a young woman, I choose clothes in a modern design with bright colours," 22-year-old designer Hadis Hassanlou told AFP at a fashion exhibition in the historic Saadabad Palace in Tehran.

Since shortly after the 1979 revolution, women in Iran have had to observe a strict dress code and wear loose-fitting garments while also covering the head and neck.

Yemen's Huthis fired three missiles at two merchant ships in the Red Sea on Wednesday in their latest attack in the commercially vital waterway, the White House and the Iran-backed rebels said.

It came after the Huthis vowed to keep up their attacks despite repeated US and British strikes against them.

One missile missed its target and a US Navy destroyer shot down the other two, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

The continuing Huthi action "means we're obviously still going to have to do what we have to do to protect that shipping," he added.

The UN's top court said it would hand down its landmark ruling on Friday in the case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, a verdict likely to be watched closely around the world.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague could potentially order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.

South Africa has hauled Israel before the court, alleging it stands in breach of the UN's Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 as the world's response to the Holocaust.

The United Arab Emirates and its powerful ruler were sued in a Washington court Wednesday, accused of bankrolling a "dark public relations" operation that falsely linked an American oil trader to terrorist financing.

The lawsuit filed by the trader Hazim Nada in the District of Columbia alleges that starting in 2017 the UAE paid a Swiss private intelligence firm, Alp Services, to "seriously damage" his reputation and business in a sweeping smear campaign.

Japan cruised into the Asian Cup last 16 on Wednesday and a possible date with South Korea, as already qualified Iraq came out on top in a five-goal thriller.

Ayase Ueda struck in each half to go with a late Indonesia own goal as pre-tournament favourites Japan won 3-1 to finish runners-up in Group D behind Iraq.

Japan will now face the winners of Group E -- South Korea's group.

Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea are currently second on goal difference behind Jordan and face Malaysia in their final group match on Thursday.

International humanitarian and rights organisations on Wednesday called on countries to halt weapons transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups in a bid to end the Gaza conflict, or risk being complicit in possible war crimes.

In a joint statement, the 16 groups urged United Nations member states to stop sending weapons, parts and ammunition to "stop the crisis in Gaza and avert further humanitarian catastrophe and loss of civilian life."

The execution of the ninth man to be hanged over protests that swept Iran in 2022 marks a new stage in Tehran's rampant use of the death penalty, rights groups say.

The groups argue that Mohammad Ghobadlou had mental health issues and that his original death sentence had been overturned.

Ghobadlou, 23, was put to death early Tuesday in Ghezel Hesar prison in the city of Karaj outside Tehran.

He had been convicted over the death of a police officer who the authorities say was run over by a car during the protests in September 2022.

Fighting intensified Wednesday in Gaza's Khan Yunis, the focus of Israel's war against Hamas, with the UN saying nine people were killed in tank shelling at one of its shelters, sparking international condemnation.

The United Nations slammed a "blatant disregard" for the rules of war while the United States deplored the attack at the shelter housing displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza's biggest city.