Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.
Reading out the ruling by the International Court of Justice or World Court, the body’s president Nawaf Salam said the situation in the Palestinian enclave had deteriorated since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it. Conditions had been met for a new emergency order, the court claimed.
“The state of Israel shall … immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” Salam said.
The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid, and said it must provide access to the enclave for investigators and report back on its progress within one month.
The order was adopted by the panel of 15 judges from around the world in a 13-2 vote, opposed by judges from Uganda and from Israel itself.
It was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa as part of a case accusing Israel of genocide.
The ICJ is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states but has no enforcement powers. Its rulings have been ignored in the past.
Outside, a small group of anti-Israel demonstrators waved flags and played a rap on a boom box calling for a “free Palestine.”
Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case’s accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defense and targeted at Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
An Israeli government spokesman said on the eve of Friday’s decision that “no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza.”
Israel launched its offensive in the southern city of Rafah — the last bastion of the Hamas terror group in Gaza — causing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee the city.
South Africa’s lawyers asked the ICJ last week to impose emergency measures, saying Israel‘s operations in Rafah must be stopped to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
A decision against Israel could heap more diplomatic pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court — a separate court also based in The Hague — announced on Monday he had filed an application for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of Hamas.
Prosecutor Karim Khan accused Netanyahu and Gallant of crimes including extermination, using hunger as a weapon and deliberately attacking civilians. Israel strongly denied those charges and called on allies to repudiate the court.
South Africa’s wider case at the ICJ accuses Israel of orchestrating a state-led genocide against the Palestinian people. The ICJ has not ruled on the substance of that accusation.
In previous rulings, the court ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and allow aid to flow into Gaza, while stopping short of ordering a halt to Israeli military operations.
Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian terrorist group on Oct. 7 invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped more than 250 hostages. The Israeli government has pledged to free the remaining hostages and destroy Hamas, which commandeers civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
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Author: Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
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