UN court orders Israel to halt its military assault in Rafah

A United Nations court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a full ceasefire.

Reading out the ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) president, Nawaf Salam, said provisional measures ordered by the court in March did not fully address the situation in Gaza now, and conditions had been met for a new emergency order.

The Hague-based court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to allow urgently needed humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

Salam quoted UN officials who have repeatedly warned that Israel’s military offensive in Rafah would have catastrophic consequences.

Over 800,000 of the more than one million people taking refuge in Rafah have fled the city since the Israeli operation began two weeks ago.

The case was brought to the ICJ by South Africa via an emergency measure, as part of its wider case in which it accuses Israel of orchestrating state-led genocide against the Palestinian people.

The World Court has not ruled on the substance of that accusation, which could take years, but has rejected Israel’s demand to throw the case out.