World court orders Israel to 'immediately halt' offensive in Rafah

International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday (May 24) ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah.

The president of the top United Nations court read the ruling on a plea by South Africa to order a halt to the military offensive in Gaza.

In the landmark ruling, the world court said Israel must "immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".

ICJ said that Israel must submit to all measures taken within one month from the date of this order.

The Hague-based court also said it was "not convinced" that the evacuation of Rafah and other measures by Israel were sufficient to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.

Experts believe that the ruling will likely increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza war.

The decision came a few days afterthe International Criminal Court prosecutor sought arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders.

The prosecutor argued thatIsraeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and top Hamas officials, were guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the ongoing war.

Israel accused of 'genocide'

The case wasbrought before the ICJ last year with South Africa alleging that Israel's Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

South Africa had accused Israel of "genocide" and urged ICJ to order an "immediate" stop to Israel's campaign, including in the southern area of Rafah, and facilitate access to humanitarian aid.

Earlier this year in January, the ICJ ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military operation in Gaza.

Israel strongly denied the accusations and inits argument had said that any order to stop military activity would give free rein to Hamas extremists and prevent its army from rescuing hostages taken in the group's brutal October 7 attack.

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South Africa welcomed the ruling and urged UN member states to back it."I believe it's a much stronger, in terms of wording, set of provisional measures, very clear call for a cessation," Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told public broadcaster SABC.

Meanwhile,Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that he would consult senior ministers to discuss the order.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded to the ruling on X, formerly Twitter, saying "history will judge those who stand today alongside the Nazis of Hamas Daesh," referring to the jihadist Islamic State group.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)