THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ highest court ruled Friday that Israel Military offensive Israel has ordered a ceasefire in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but not in the Gaza Strip, which is unlikely to be followed but will likely increase pressure on the area. An increasingly isolated country.
Criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza war has grown, especially since it shifted focus to Rafah. This week alone, three European countries announced it would recognize the state of Palestineand the chief prosecutor of another international court. An arrest warrant was requested For Israeli leaders and Hamas officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under pressure at home to end the war that began when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel. Entering IsraelSince then, 1,200 people have been killed, mostly civilians, and about 250 taken hostage. Fearing time is running out, thousands of Israelis have taken to weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to allow the hostages to return home.
The International Court of Justice’s ruling is a blow to Israel’s international standing, but the court has no police powers to enforce its orders. Russia is ignoring the court’s ruling in another case currently before the court. 2022 Order To prevent a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Israel does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, but South Africa could sue because both countries are signatories to the Genocide Convention, which contains a clause allowing disputes over the treaty to be resolved by the International Court of Justice.
This focused decision sent three clear messages to Israel: an end to attacks on Rafah, access to Gaza for war crimes investigators, and an order for a significant and immediate increase in humanitarian aid to the area, some of which is supported by Israel. Permanent hunger.
“This binding and very specific ruling leaves Israel with very little leeway,” said Reid Brody, a veteran human rights lawyer and prosecutor.
Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of the war cabinet, appeared to suggest that Israel would not change course on Rafah.
“The State of Israel is committed to continuing to fight wherever and whenever necessary, including in Rafah, to secure the return of the hostages and the safety of its people,” he said.
“Wherever we operate, we will continue to operate in accordance with international law, protecting civilians to the extent possible — not because of the International Court of Justice, but because of who we are and the values we stand for.”
Immediately after the verdict, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he would convene a special cabinet meeting to decide how to respond.
Balqees Jarrah, deputy international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the court’s order highlights the precarious situation for Palestinians in Gaza but warned that it could be ignored unless the international community exerts all its influence over Israel.
“The ICJ decision opens the door to relief, but only if governments apply pressure on Israel, including through an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, and enforce the ICJ measures swiftly,” Jarrah said.
Court president Nawaf Salam read out the verdict as a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside.
The ruling said the concerns the court expressed earlier this year about the operation in Rafah had “become reality” and that Israel must “immediately cease” its “military attacks” in the city and any actions that could create conditions that could lead to the “physical destruction, in whole or in part,” of the Palestinians living there.
Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, has attracted more than a million people in recent months who fled fighting elsewhere, many of them living in crowded tent camps. Israel has vowed for months to invade Rafah, claiming it is Hamas’ last major stronghold, but several allies have warned that an all-out assault would be disastrous.
Israel began ordering evacuations about two weeks ago, launching its operation on the city’s outskirts, and since then the army has said an estimated one million people have fled as it has advanced deeper into the city.
Rafah is also a key crossing point for aid deliveries and the UN says the amount of aid reaching Rafah has fallen sharply since the offensive began, although commercial trucks continue to enter Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation can currently be described as dire,” the court said in ordering Israel not to close the Rafah border crossing.
But it did not call for a full ceasefire across Gaza, as demanded last week by South Africa, which has historical ties to the Palestinians and filed the lawsuit.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said her country’s claims of ongoing genocide were “growing stronger with every passing day.”
“We are really pleased that the court has seriously considered the issues we raised and confirmed that an urgent decision by the court is necessary to stop this attack on innocent Palestinians,” she told South Africa’s state broadcaster SABC, adding that it was up to the UN Security Council to decide how to protect Palestinians.
Request for a ceasefire It is part of the incident It accuses Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza operations – a charge Israel strongly denies. The case will likely take years to resolve, but South Africa is seeking an interim order to protect Palestinians while the legal battle continues.
The court ruled on Friday that Israel must ensure access for any fact-finding or investigative missions sent by the United Nations to look into the genocide allegations.
At a hearing last week International Court of JusticeSouth Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Busimuzi Madonsela, called on the 15-judge panel to order Israel to “completely and unconditionally withdraw” from the Gaza Strip.
The court has already It argued that Israel’s military operation poses a “real and imminent danger” to the Palestinian people.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The operation has devastated entire neighborhoods, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and Starved parts of the territory.
“This may be the court’s last chance to act,” Irish lawyer Bryné Ní Graleigh, part of South Africa’s defence team, told the judges last week.
In January, judges at the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and any casualties. Genocide The committee stopped short of ordering a halt to military attacks in Gaza, but issued a second order in March, in which it said Israel must take steps to improve the humanitarian situation.
The ICJ adjudicates disputes between nations. A few kilometers (miles) away, the International Criminal Court prosecutes those deemed most responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
On Monday, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he had asked ICC judges to approve arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and three top Hamas figures – Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh. War crimes and crimes against humanity In the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Because Israel is not a member state of the ICC, Netanyahu and Gallant would not face immediate risk of prosecution if arrest warrants were issued, but the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli leaders to travel abroad.
Human rights lawyer Brody said the ICJ’s decision and the ICC prosecutor’s request for the warrant “are a one-two punch of legal damage to Israel’s war on Gaza.”
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This article has been updated to correct that the International Criminal Court is not a UN court.
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Associated Press writer Gerald Imhle in Cape Town, South Africa contributed.
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