ICJ Orders Israel To ‘Immediately Halt’ Rafah Offensive
Over seven months into the Gaza War, a historic decision by the top UN court on Friday ordering Israel to stop military operations in Rafah “immediately” is expected to intensify international pressure on Israel.
The International Court of Justice also demanded that Israel free the captives it had abducted after its October 7 attack and maintained open the vital Rafah gateway for “unhindered” humanitarian deliveries.
Legally binding, ICJ decisions lack specific enforcement mechanisms available to the court. To no use, for instance, it gave Russia the command to stop invading Ukraine.
“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,” the court said.
Israel had contended in court that a suspension to military operations would allow Hamas fanatics unrestricted freedom and keep its forces from saving captives abducted in the group’s horrific October 7 attack.
After the decision, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he will call a meeting of senior ministers.
Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the decision was a “much stronger… set of provisional measures, very clear call for a cessation.” South Africa welcomed it.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s highly charged decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders on Monday is immediately followed by the ICJ decision.
Senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and senior Hamas officials were accused by Prosecutor Karim Khan of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza War and the October 7 incident.Disgusting exploitation
Alleging that Israel’s Gaza offensive violated the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, South Africa filed the lawsuit with the International Court of Justice last year. Israel vehemently refuted the accusation.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) mandated on January 26 that Israel take all necessary precautions to avoid genocide while conducting its military campaign in Gaza. The decision generated headlines around the world.
On Friday, the ICJ also gave Israel instructions to guarantee “unimpeded access” to UN-mandated investigators investigating claims of genocide.
Since then, though, South Africa has made multiple trips back to the International Court of Justice, claiming that the severe humanitarian situation in Gaza forces the court to impose additional emergency measures.
“Israel’s genocide has continued apace and has just reached a new and horrific stage,” said South Africa’s ambassador Vusimuzi Madonsela during public hearings held last week.
“Although the current application was prompted by the events in Rafah, Israel’s genocidal assault across Gaza has gotten worse over the last few days and also deserves this court’s attention,” he said.
South Africa contended that a complete cessation of Israeli military operations was the only option to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and alleviate the situation there.
Though it will take months or even years to decide on the larger South African genocide case, the court has the authority to impose immediate action while it considers its options.
The International Court of Justice called the humanitarian situation “disastrous” and said Israel’s evacuation attempts were inadequate.
Israel said at the hearings that the picture Pretoria presented to the court was “completely divorced from the facts and circumstances” and that South Africa’s position was a “obscene exploitation of the most sacred convention.”
At proceedings, leading Israeli attorney Gilad Noam argued, “It makes a farce of the grave charge of genocide.
It does not make something genocide to call it such repeatedly. A falsehood is not true just because it is repeated, he said.
Furthermore, Israel claimed to have undertaken “extensive efforts” to boost the flow of humanitarian aid and to be “acutely aware” of the suffering of people in the Gaza Strip.
“What’s happening is not genocide,” US President Joe Biden stated last week.Talking about stalking
Netanyahu is under increasing internal pressure to ensure their freedom, therefore Israel declared on Thursday that it was prepared to begin stalled negotiations on a peace and hostage release agreement with Hamas.
A Western source close to the situation says that US intelligence chief Bill Burns is scheduled to meet Israeli delegates in Paris to restart talks.
Early this month, previous negotiations in Cairo and Doha attended by Egypt and Qatar as Hamas mediators broke down.
An AFP calculation of Israeli official estimates put the dead toll from Hamas’s unprecedented strike on October 7 at over 1,170, the most of them civilians.
Militants also abducted 252 people, 124 of whom are still in Gaza and 37 of whom the army claims are dead.
Reiterating its demand for the “immediate and unconditional” release of these captives was the International Criminal Court.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has claimed the lives of at least 35,800 individuals, the majority of them civilian.