The United Nations’ top court has issued an order demanding that Israel immediately cease its military operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, thereby intensifying the international pressure on Israel regarding its conflict with the Hamas militant group.
On May 7, Israel initiated a limited ground offensive in Rafah, despite numerous appeals from the global community, including the United States, urging Israel not to proceed.
Before the offensive began, more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge in Rafah. However, the court observed that approximately 800,000 have been displaced since the operation commenced.
“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” stated Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Friday, May 24.
The ICJ has categorized the humanitarian situation in Rafah as “disastrous.” Judge Salam noted that UN officials have warned that the situation is likely to “intensify even further” if the Israeli military actions in Rafah persist.
Since the Israeli military’s entry into Rafah, they have seized control of the city’s border crossing with Egypt, which has been closed ever since. This crossing was a crucial conduit for humanitarian aid.
The court has also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian assistance, asserting that the evacuation and living conditions provided by Israel are not “sufficient to alleviate the immense risk, which the Palestinian population is exposed” to.
Israeli officials have strongly criticized the ICJ’s ruling. Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition party Yesh Atid, remarked that “the fact that the ICJ did not even directly connect the end of the military operation in Rafah to the release of the hostages and to Israel’s right to defend itself against terror is an abject moral failure.”
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed his disapproval on X (formerly known as Twitter), stating, “The International Court of Justice just provided every terror organization on earth with THE PERFECT METHOD TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER.”
Hamas, on the other hand, praised the ruling but indicated that it had hoped for a decision covering the entire Gaza Strip, pointing out that areas like Jabalya are also suffering and require urgent attention.
While ICJ rulings are final and binding, the court lacks enforcement mechanisms, and its decisions have been ignored previously.
On May 10, South Africa filed an urgent request for additional measures against Israel, accusing it of using forced evacuation orders in Rafah to “endanger rather than protect civilian life.” This request is part of a broader case in which South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians during the seven-month-long conflict.
Following the ruling, Israel’s National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a joint statement asserting that Israel “has not carried out and will not carry out military activity in the Rafah area that creates living conditions that could lead to the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Regarding the order to keep the Rafah crossing open, the statement noted that Israel will “continue its efforts to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip” and “reduce as much as possible the harm to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”
This ruling comes after the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought arrest warrants for Hamas leaders as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict in Gaza.
