Judges at the top United Nations court on Friday ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave.
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
South Africa had filed a request in which it accused Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza campaign.
Judges at the top United Nations court on Friday ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave.
According to AlJazeera, the decision marked the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza. Although the orders are legally binding, the court has no police to enforce them.
The ICJ president Nawaf Salam said provisional measures ordered by the court in March did not fully address the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave now, and conditions had been met for a new emergency order.
The judge said 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”.
He called the humanitarian situation in Rafah “disastrous”
South Africa’s lawyers asked the ICJ in the Hague last week to impose emergency measures, saying Israel’s attacks on Rafah must be stopped to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
In a highly-charged ruling in January, the court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a halt in the fighting.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case’s accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defence and targeted at Hamas fighters 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 going after Hamas in Gaza”.