The International Court of Justice called on Israel to end its operation in Rafah, the southernmost town in Gaza.
Over the last two weeks, Israel has reduced entire neighborhoods in Rafah to rubble and forcefully displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Israel says it needs to move into Rafah to complete its mission of defeating Hamas. However, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s war aims effectively violated the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention.
According to the court, Israel must stop its offensive on Rafah.
The court also reaffirmed its previous January 26 ruling that Israel must scale up aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
“The ICJ is essentially saying: OK, enough,” said Alonso Gurmendi, an international law scholar at King’s College, London.
“It is a pretty substantial order … it [reflects] a loss of patience [with Israel] in my opinion.”
What was South Africa’s complaint against Israel?
South Africa initially filed an emergency request for Israel to end its offensive on Rafah but then broadened its request for a full ceasefire in Gaza.
For now, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not made a formal statement. However, analysts believe that Israel will continue to violate the ICJ’s order.
Legal scholars and analysts said Israel refused compliance with earlier ICJ provisional measures on January 26.
The ICJ had called on Israel to scale up aid to protect the rights of Palestinians under the genocide convention.
Gurmendi added that the new provisional measure compounds the pressure on Western states that arm Israel.
“How can you justify selling weapons for Israel to use in Rafah? I don’t think you can. I think it is legally impossible,” he said.
“So while this [ICJ order] won’t stop the operation in Rafah itself, it builds pressure on the idea that it is OK to just keep selling weapons to Israel.”