The U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice, on Friday ordered Israel to cease its military offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, citing concerns over the safety of Palestinian civilians.
“Israel must 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,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam said.
The court noted that circumstances in Rafah had deteriorated further since the ICJ’s last ruling in March, and that the provisional measures that the ICJ instructed at the time no longer cover current circumstances.
The court further found that evacuation and other measures undertaken by Israel in Rafah were not sufficient. CNBC has reached out to the Israeli prime minister’s office for comment.
“Israel must take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent order of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide,” the ruling said, qualifying a “catastrophic” situation in the Gaza enclave.
Known as the World Court, the ICJ issues rulings that are final and without appeal, but that the court cannot directly enforce. Its pronouncements nevertheless deal heavy reputational blows and risk deepening Israel’s international isolation, amid growing concerns abroad over the proportionality of its response in the Gaza conflict.
Earlier this month, Israel advanced its military campaign into Rafah, where more than 1 million of displaced Palestinian people have sought shelter.
South Africa called on the ICJ to rule on the Rafah offensive, as part of a broader case initiated in December by the African nation that requested the Court’s pronouncement over potential genocide risks resulting from Israel’s broader military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The World Court has so far pronounced that Israel must take steps to prevent genocide against civilians trapped in the besieged enclave, but has fallen short of mandating a cease-fire.
Israel maintains that its objectives in the Gaza Strip are not to target civilians but to eliminate Palestinian militant group Hamas, which claimed over 1,200 lives in the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, according to official figures. The ensuing Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities there.
