The International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must “immediately halt” its offensive into the Rafah enclave in Gaza.
In a Friday ruling, the court demanded that Israel cease its offensive into Rafah, ensure the opening of its border crossing, allow the unimpeded access of private investigators, and submit within a month a report with evidence that it is taking steps to comply with the order. The ruling was passed with 13 votes for and two against.
“In conformity with obligations under the genocide convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part,” an ICJ judge said.
The court also determined Israel had not provided ample evidence to show it had ensured the safety of refugees from Rafah. Judges said the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated drastically and may now be “characterized as disastrous.”
The lengthy court battle began on Dec. 29, 2023, when South Africa filed an accusation of genocide against Israel. While the court did not find sufficient evidence for genocide, it ruled that Israel must do more to prevent civilian harm and submit a report detailing how it was undertaking these actions.
The launching of Israel’s incursion into Rafah on May 7 resulted in a new filing from South Africa, demanding Israel immediately cease its offensive. South Africa described the situation as catastrophic.
It outlined “a total collapse of infrastructure, of sanitation, of water, of food supply: in short, the conditions necessary to sustain life for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. … The level of destruction that Israel has caused across Gaza and is now wreaking on Rafah threatens the very survival of future Palestinian generations in Gaza.”
While Israel argued that it had taken great effort to limit Palestinian casualties, including restricted fire areas, humanitarian corridors, and tactical pauses in fighting, the court was unconvinced.
“The Court observes that Israel has not provided sufficient information concerning the safety of the population during the evacuation process, or the availability in the Al-Mawasi area of the necessary amount of water, sanitation, food, medicine and shelter for the 800,000 Palestinians that have evacuated thus far,” the ruling reads. “Consequently, the Court is of the view that Israel has not sufficiently addressed and dispelled the concerns raised by its military offensive in Rafah.”
Israel and the United Nations are in agreement that 800,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since the beginning of the ground operation on May 7.
The matter of aid corridors was also disputed — South African representatives said Israel had completely shut down vital border crossings in Rafah, while Israel claimed the opposite.
Israel argued that to end its military operation in Rafah “would mean that 132 hostages would remain to languish in Hamas’ tunnels forsaken” and that “Hamas would be left unhindered and free to continue its attacks against Israeli territory and Israeli civilians”
The final remark of the ruling mentioned the plight of the Israeli hostages, saying that the “Court expressed its grave concern over the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and called for their immediate and unconditional release. The Court finds it deeply troubling that many of these hostages remain in captivity and reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would hold a special ministerial meeting to decide on a response. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid denounced the ruling, saying it failed to address the matter of the hostages still being held by Hamas.
“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,” Lapid said.
Hamas praised parts of the decision but argued that it didn’t go nearly far enough, as the situation was equally as bad in northern Gaza.
“We believe it is not enough since the occupation’s aggression across the Gaza Strip, especially in northern Gaza, is just as brutal and dangerous,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters.
South Africa praised the decision, approving of the stronger language used in the ruling.
The ruling is a significant blow to Israel. The rulings of the court are binding, though it has no enforcement mechanism. However, a failure to follow the court’s ruling could incur sanctions from the U.N.
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Despite this, the ruling is unlikely to affect Israel’s actions. Previous rulings by the U.N. and the International Criminal Court have proven ineffectual, with Israel simply ignoring them. A similar recent order by the ICJ for Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine has been ignored since 2022.
The ICJ’s ruling came a few days after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government over their actions in the war in Gaza.
