The International Court of Justice has called on Israel to end its operation in Rafah. Over the last two weeks, Israel has reduced entire neighborhoods in Rafah to rubble and forcefully displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Israel must stop its offensive on Rafah. The court was not convinced that Israel had taken sufficient measures to protect civilian life and voted thirteen judges to two that Israel must take effective measures to enable any UN-backed commission of inquiry to enter Gaza and probe genocide allegations.
Alonso Gurmendi, an international law scholar at King’s College, London says the court also reaffirmed its previous January 26 ruling that Israel must scale up aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The ICJ is saying, OK, enough. It is a substantial order. It reflects a loss of patience with Israel.
South Africa initially filed an emergency request for Israel to end its offensive on Rafah, but then broadened its request for a full ceasefire in Gaza. Minutes after the ruling came in; reports emerged of Israeli air raids in Rafah.
Heidi Matthews, a legal scholar at York University in Toronto says ICJ ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing for unhindered aid provision. The order is legally binding on Israel. Previous ICJ orders to scale up aid have already put states on notice that there is an imminent risk of genocide and therefore their duty under the genocide convention is to prevent what has already happened.
Some folks will be disappointed that there was not a full ceasefire order. She added that this is still a big move, but it is not a full ceasefire move.
Hamas welcomed the ICJ rulings. It said in a statement that Israel continues to commit massacres in the Gaza Strip. The group added that it expects the court to issue an order eventually for Israel to stop its war on the entire besieged strip. What is happening in Jabalia and other governorates of the Strip is no less criminal and dangerous than what is happening in Rafah.
We call on the international community and the United Nations to pressure Tel Aviv to comply immediately with this decision and seriously and genuinely proceed in translating all UN resolutions that force the Zionist occupation army to stop the genocide it has been committing against our people for more than seven months.
However, the response from Israeli officials has been largely defiant. Many officials repeated prior accusations that the court was aiding terrorists. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X that Israel was in a war for its existence, adding that stopping the invasion of Rafah was akin to demanding Israel cease to exist.
Will the ICJ be able to enforce Friday’s ruling? They have no enforcement power in the UN system. Enforcement relies on members of the court to uphold their obligations under international law and on the UN Security Council.
How does this court hearing differ from the last one? Both hearings aimed to secure an end to Israel’s devastating war on Gaza. The ICJ’s new orders intensify pressure on Israel and allied states to protect Palestinians and end its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 people and made the enclave effectively uninhabitable.
ICJ orders are legally binding. However, the court’s ruling will come under discussion at the UN Security Council, where states can decide to take united action to enforce the court’s orders. Security Council resolutions are also legally binding.
However, the US has a veto, which it has historically used to shield Israel from the consequences of violating international law. On April 18, the US vetoed a proposed resolution that would have made Palestine the 194th UN member.