World Court orders Israel to “immediately halt” military offensive in Gaza

Hague:

Judges at the United Nations’ top court on Friday ordered Israel to suspend its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a historic emergency ruling on South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.

Reading the decision of the International Court of Justice or World Court, the body’s president, Nawaf Salam, said that the situation in the Palestinian enclave had deteriorated since the last time the court ordered Israel to take measures to improve it. The conditions have been met for a new emergency order.

“The State of Israel must (…) immediately suspend its military offensive and any other action in the province of Rafah, which could inflict living conditions on the Palestinian group in Gaza that could lead to its total or partial physical destruction. ” , he said.

The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow humanitarian aid, and said it must provide access to the besieged enclave to investigators and report on its progress within a month.

The order was adopted by a panel of 15 judges from around the world in a vote of 13-2, with opposition only from judges from Uganda and 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 UN’s highest body for hearing disputes between states. Its decisions are final and binding, but have been ignored in the past. The court has no enforcement powers.

Outside, a small group of pro-Palestine protesters waved flags and played rap music on a stereo calling for a free Palestine.

Israel has repeatedly rejected the genocide allegations in the case as unfounded, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defense and target Hamas operatives who attacked Israel on October 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 pursuing Hamas in Gaza.”

Israel this month launched its attack on the southern city of Rafah, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee a city that has become a refuge for about half of the country’s 2.3 million inhabitants.

Rafah, on the southern edge of Gaza, has also been the main aid route, and international organizations say the Israeli operation has isolated the enclave and increased the risk of famine.

EMERGENCY MEASURES

South African lawyers last week asked the ICJ to impose emergency measures, saying Israel’s attacks on Rafah must be stopped to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.

A decision against Israel could increase diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court – a separate court also based in The Hague – announced on Monday that he had filed a request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders.

Prosecutor Karim Khan accused Netanyahu and Gallant of crimes including extermination, using starvation as a weapon and deliberately attacking civilians. Israel vehemently denied these accusations and called on allies to repudiate the court.

South Africa’s broader ICJ case accuses Israel of orchestrating a state-led genocide against the Palestinian people. The ICJ did not rule on the substance of this accusation – this could take years – but it rejected Israel’s demand to dismiss the case.

In previous rulings, the court ordered Israel to avoid acts of genocide against Palestinians and allow the flow of aid to Gaza, while not ordering the suspension of Israeli military operations.

Israel launched its air and land war against Gaza after agents led by Hamas invaded communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli data. Since then, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, says the Gaza Health Ministry.

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