International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt military offensive in Rafah

After the ruling, Israel finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said those who demand that Israel stop the war are demanding that it should decide to cease to exist and Israel will not agree to that.

The Palestinian Authority spokesperson said it welcomed the decision while Israeli and South African legal teams both declined to comment.

A Hamas official also welcomed the decision but also said it was not enough and urged an end to Israel's offensive on all of Gaza.

Speaking on Friday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the fighting in Gaza must stop regardless of any ruling.

"I think it's really important that all countries abide by the rulings of the international criminal court. That is why we have international courts, that's why we sign up," he said.

"But regardless of any ruling - and I am very respectful of the ruling - we do not need a court ruling to tell us that what is happening in Gaza, the military incursion that may well happen in Rafah cannot. It needs to stop."

The order by the International Court of Justice ICJ further ratchets up international pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel to rein in its war on Hamas in Gaza.

Friday’s decision marked the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders seeking to reduce the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

While orders are legally binding, the court has no police to enforce them.

Criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing — even from its closest ally, the United States, which warned against an invasion of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter from fighting elsewhere.

This week alone, three European countries announced they would recognise a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for another UN court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under heavy pressure at home to end the war, which was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people, most civilians, and taking some 250 captive.

Thousands of Israelis have joined weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to bring the hostages home, fearing that time is running out.

While the ruling by the ICJ is a blow to Israel’s international standing, the court does not have a police force to enforce its orders. In another case on its docket, Russia has so far ignored a 2022 order by the court to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Israel signalled it, too, would brush off an ICJ order to stop its operations.

“No power on earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza,” Avi Hyman, the government spokesperson, said in a press briefing on Thursday.

The court’s president, Nawaf Salam, read out the ruling, as a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside.

Fears expressed earlier “with respect to the developments in Rafah have materialised and that the humanitarian situation is now to be characterised as disastrous,” the ruling said.

The court did not call for a full ceasefire throughout Gaza as South Africa had requested at hearings last week.

The ceasefire request is part of a case filed late last year by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza campaign. Israel vehemently denies the allegations.

The case will take years to resolve, but South Africa wants interim orders to protect Palestinians while the legal wrangling continues.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, said the country’s allegation that a genocide is under way is getting “stronger and stronger by the day”.

“We are really pleased that the court has given very serious consideration to the matters that we put before it and has affirmed that an urgent decision is needed from the court to pause this onslaught against innocent Palestinian people,” she told South African state broadcaster SABC, adding that it is now up to the UN Security Council to determine how to protect the Palestinians.

The court has already found that Israel’s military operations pose a “real and imminent risk” to the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The operation has obliterated entire areas, hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes, and pushed parts of the territory into famine.

“This may well be the last chance for the court to act,” Irish lawyer Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, who is part of South Africa’s legal team, told judges last week.

Israel rejects the claims by South Africa, a nation with historic ties to the Palestinian people.

“Israel takes extraordinary measures in order to minimize the harm to civilians in Gaza,” Tamar Kaplan-Tourgeman, a member of Israel’s legal team, told the court last week.

In January, ICJ judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.

In a second order in March, the court said Israel must take measures to improve the humanitarian situation.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army said the bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7 have been recovered overnight from Gaza.

Military officials said the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez have been identified and their families have been informed.

The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza.

The ruling can be read in full here.

Also on Friday, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution that strongly condemns attacks on humanitarian workers and UN personnel, and demands that all combatants protect them in accordance with international law.

The vote was 14-0 with Russia abstaining.

The Swiss-sponsored resolution expresses grave concern at the growing number of attacks and threats against UN and humanitarian personnel along with the continuing disregard and violations of international humanitarian law by combatants.

The draft resolution did not single out any conflict, but it was voted on as battles rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and many other hotspots around the world.

Can ICJ rulings be enforced?

ICJ rulings cannot be enforced and can be ignored.

In March 2022, the court ordered Russia to immediately halt its military campaign in Ukraine.

The ruling against Israel could, however, damage the country’s international reputation and set a legal precedent.

It could add weight to possible legal challenges, such as demands for arms embargoes as numerous states have provisions against selling arms to states that might use them in ways that violate international law.

- Additional reporting by Reuters