Israel – Hamas: International Court of Justice orders Israelis to “immediately” halt their military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled this Friday that Israel must “immediately” halt its military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza.

South Africa asked the court to issue this ruling as an emergency measure, noting that Israel’s activities in Rafah are a “genocidal” operation and threaten the very existence of the Palestinian people.

The request is part of a wider case South Africa has brought to the court over Israel’s actions Horoscope,

Israel says it is carrying out the offensive Refah The key to defeating Hamas After the 7 October attacks and assured that the South African case is “totally baseless”.

The ICJ is the highest court United Nations It can issue legally binding rulings in disputes between countries, but it has few mechanisms to enforce its decisions.

In its ruling this Friday, the court said Israel must “immediately cease its military aggression in Rafah Governorate and any other action that could adversely affect the Palestinian community in Gaza leading to its total or partial physical destruction.”

is about This is the first time the court has issued a ruling forcing Israel to make significant changes to its military operation in Gaza,

Israeli government sources have indicated this by refuting the allegations against them They will ignore any orders to cease their operations.

The judges said Israel had not persuaded them of the steps it claimed to have taken to improve evacuation efforts and security. Civilians in the Gaza StripAnd for those displaced from Rafah in particular, they are enough to mitigate the enormous risk that the Palestinian population is faced with as a result of the military offensive in the area.

The case was brought by South Africa Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of GenocideWhich was enacted in 1948 following the Jewish genocide during World War II.

South Africa argued that the Palestinians’ inalienable right to protection under that convention was at risk of being violated and called on the ICJ to intervene.

BBC journalist Anna Halligan, from the court in The Hague, explains that the court’s ruling does not determine whether genocidal acts are being committed in Gaza, but rather whether there is a potential threat to the Palestinian people’s right to protection.

decision making court order To prevent a deterioration of the situation or at least place it in a type of waiting period until the judge considers the broader merits of the case.

The Presiding Judge of the ICJ, Nawaf Salamsaid the situation in Gaza had deteriorated since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it.

He assured that attacks could be provoked “Physical destruction” The Palestinians further said Israel should allow access to Gaza to any UN body investigating allegations of genocide.

The ruling also reiterated the requirement that Israel allow “largely uninterrupted provision” of basic services and humanitarian assistance.

“The humanitarian situation (in Gaza) must now be regarded as catastrophic,” the verdict said.

International humanitarian aid agencies have noted that inadequate amounts of aid are reaching the people of Gaza facing famine.

UN suspends food distribution in Rafah on Tuesday because of the dangerous situation. Israel says it has made “great efforts” to ensure “humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.”

Salam also indicated that the court finds it “extremely worrying” that Hamas and other armed groups continue to hold Israeli hostages in Gaza, and called for “their immediate and unconditional release”.

South Africa Welcomed the order of the United Nations’ highest court.

“I think in terms of the wording this is a very strong set of interim measures, a very clear call for an end,” South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said, reports news agency AFP.

Meanwhile, Israel has vowed to ignore the ICJ’s order to halt its attack on Rafah or other operations in Gaza.

“There is no force in the world that would force us to commit public suicide, because it means stopping our war against Hamas,” Israeli government spokesman David Menser told the BBC.

For its part, the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, benjamin netanyahuon Friday rejected accusations of massacres as “false and outrageous” and said their operation in Rafah “has not and will not lead to the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population.”

presidential spokesman for the Palestinian AuthorityNabil Abu Rudaina said the decision “represents an international consensus to end War in the Gaza Strip” Reuters news agency reported.

The Palestinian Authority governs areas of the occupied West Bank.

HamasThe Gaza governor assured that the call to stop the offensive should include not only Rafah, but the entire Gaza Strip.

“We welcome the decision of the International Court of Justice, which demands that the brutal Zionist entity stop its aggression against our people in the city of Rafah,” a Hamas representative told the BBC.

Minutes after the ICJ ruling became known, Israeli fighter jets launched an attack a series of air strikes against Shaboura CampIn Rafah city centre.

Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages. Since then, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, mostly civilians.

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