DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Judges at the United Nations’ highest court have ordered Israel to immediately cease its military attack on the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
Judges at the United Nations’ highest court have ordered Israel to end its offensive in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave, in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, citing an “immense risk” for the Palestinian population.
Friday’s ruling marks the third time this year that the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders aimed at limiting the death toll and easing humanitarian suffering in Gaza. Even though the orders are legally binding, the court does not have police to enforce them.
Reading a judgment from the International Court of Justice, or World Court, the organization’s president, Nawaf Salam, said the interim measures ordered by the court in March did not fully address the current situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave and that the conditions were ripe for a new emergency situation. order.
Israel must “immediately end its military offensive and any other actions in the Rafah governorate that could inflict living conditions on the Palestinian group in Gaza that could lead to its physical destruction, in whole or in part,” it said. Salam, calling the humanitarian situation in Rafah “disastrous”.
South Africa’s lawyers last week asked the ICJ in The Hague to impose emergency measures, saying Israeli attacks on Rafah must stop to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
Reporting from The Hague, Netherlands, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said 13 of the ICJ’s 15 judges agreed that the situation in Rafah constituted a red line, words like “exceptionally disastrous” being used by them to describe the situation.
“The main judge said that 800,000 people were displaced and that he did not believe Israel’s word that they have security and humanitarian access. He said there was no proof of that,” she noted.
“This is why the court issued a very strong order ordering Israel to immediately cease its offensive and military operations in Rafah and to withdraw its troops there. He also ruled on border crossings that they must be reopened as soon as possible to allow the arrival of humanitarian aid,” Vaessen added, specifying that the judge also stressed that UN observers must access it as soon as possible to ensure. that no evidence of possible war crimes disappears from the region.
The ICJ also ordered Israel to report to it within one month on its progress in implementing the measures ordered by the institution.
Israel launched its assault on the southern town of Rafah this month, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee a town that had become a refuge for about half of the 2.3 million residents.
Rafah, on Gaza’s southern edge, has also been the main aid route, and international organizations say the Israeli operation has isolated the enclave and increased the risk of famine.
Reporting from Deir Al Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Al Khoudary said residents of the Gaza Strip have not yet reacted to the ICJ’s decision as many of them do not have no Internet connection.
“People here in the Gaza Strip are currently trying to feed themselves… after being constantly displaced. So people are not very aware of what is happening. They ask journalists… if there’s anything positive,” she said.
Khoudary added that as journalists in Gaza, they do not want to give false hope to residents of the region and are waiting to hear more information on how the ICJ ruling will be implemented in Rafah, where the situation remains intense.
The Palestinian Authority on Friday welcomed the decision of the International Court of Justice, saying it represents an international consensus to end the war in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeina said , to the Reuters news agency.
An Israeli government spokesperson said on the eve of Friday’s decision that “no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and attacking Hamas in Gaza.”
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the highest body of the United Nations responsible for hearing disputes between states. Its decisions are final and binding but have been ignored in the past. The court has no enforcement power.
In a highly controversial ruling in January, the court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a halt to the fighting.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide in the case as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza were self-defense operations and targeted Hamas fighters who attacked Israel on October 7.
News Source : www.aljazeera.com
Gn world
