Israeli military offensive continues in Rafa, ignoring ruling by UN top court

Israel’s military offensive continues in Rafa, on the southwest tip of the Gaza strip, despite yesterday’s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ordered an immediate halt.

The ruling by the UN’s top court also ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to allow the entry of humanitarian aid “at scale,” but stopped short of ordering a full ceasefire.

South Africa had asked the ICJ to deliver the ruling as an emergency measure in its case against Israel over the latter’s actions in Gaza, arguing that the blockade threatened the survival of the Palestinian people and amounted to a “genocidal” operation. Israel has rejected the claim, describing the case against it as unfounded. The Jewish state has described the Rafah offensive as key to defeating Hamas in the war which was sparked by the 7 October attacks on Israeli civilians.

Although the ICJ’s rulings are legally binding in disputes between countries, the court can do little to enforce the order, which will now be discussed at the UN Security Council, where states can decide to take united action to enforce the court's orders. 

The US and the UK are expected to reject the ICJ’s order, after walking back their position that once stated that they could not support a military offensive in Rafah. As it now stands, the two countries’ position is that they could not support a major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians, but it remains open to interpretation about what actually constitutes a “major ground offensive.”

The UN Security Council, meanwhile, has approved a resolution that condemns attacks on humanitarian workers and UN personnel.