While the International Court of Justice has no means to enforce its orders, the case was a stark sign of Israel’s global isolation over its campaign in Gaza.
Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel had not explained how it would keep the population safe during an evacuation of Rafah, or provide food, water, sanitation and medicine for the 800,000 Palestinians that had already fled the Israeli advance, he said. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters: “We call upon the UN Security Council to immediately implement this demand by the World Court into practical measures to compel the Zionist enemy to implement the decision.”
The order was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa as part of its case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention enacted in the wake of the Holocaust.The ICJ, based in The Hague, is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states. Its rulings are final and binding but have been ignored in the past, as the court has no enforcement powers.
Israel started its armoured attack on Rafah earlier this month, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee a city that had become a refuge to around half of the population’s 2.3 million people. So far, fighting has taken place on Rafah’s southern edge and eastern districts, but Israel has yet to begin an assault on the city’s main populated area. Its closest ally, the US, has repeatedly called on it not to do so, saying Israel has yet to show a credible plan for how this can be done without causing mass casualties among the displaced people sheltering there.
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