United Nations highest court – The International Court of Justice, sitting in The Hague, Netherlands, has today Friday, May 24, ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, and withdraw.
The court gave the ruling in response to a case of genocide brought before it by South Africa against Israel. South Africa alleged that at the rate of the Israeli military offensive, the Palestinian population was at an “immense risk“.
At least 800,000 of the population of 2.3 million people have been displaced since the Rafah offensive started, effectively turning them into refugees in their land. The count of dead varies significantly.
This is the third time this year that the 15-judge panel of the ICJ had issued orders aimed at restraining Israel, in order to reduce the death toll in Gaza and alleviate human suffering there.
The problem is that the ICJ’s orders, although legally binding, only have a moral weight and no enforcement power, as they have no police force behind them.
The Court Order
In the ruling Friday, ICJ President Nawaf Salam said Israel is required to “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.”
He described the humanitarian situation in Rafah as “disastrous.”
South Africa’s lawyers had urged the ICJ to impose emergency measures to stop Israel’s attacks on Rafah, arguing that such action was necessary for the survival of the Palestinian people.
Thirteen of the fifteen court judges consented to the ruling – a clear majority.
Rafah, on Gaza’s southern edge, has also been the main route for aid, and international organisations say the Israeli operation has cut off the enclave and raised the risk of famine.
“Those who demand that the State of Israel stop the war, demand that it decree itself to cease to exist. We will not agree to that.”
Israeli Minister
The court also ordered Israel to report on its progress in implementing these rulings within a month.
Defiant Israel
Rather than promise compliance, Israel countered with vituperations. Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, insisted that “the State of Israel is at war for its existence.”
“We continue to fight for ourselves and for the entire free world. History will judge who today stood by the Nazis of Hamas and ISIS [ISIL],” he added.
However, it is reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the development, underscoring the seriousness the government attaches to it.
Only on Wednesday, JolibaLive News! reported that three countries; Spain, Ireland and Norway moved to recognise Palestine as a sovereign nation – bringing the number of countries to have done so close to 150. It shows the continued diplomatic isolation of Israel over the situation in Gaza.
But the Palestinian Authority welcomed the ICJ decision, viewing it as a consensus to end the war on Gaza. But in Gaza, there are no signs of celebration. One journalist on the ground in Gaza said many don’t have an internet connection, and most people are focused on finding food to survive for the day.
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