World Court to rule on May 24 on measures over Israel’s Rafah offensive
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South Africa contends that a ceasefire in Rafah is meant to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
PHOTO: AFP
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AMSTERDAM – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule on May 24 on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s Rafah offensive in Gaza.
In hearings last week, South Africa asked the ICJ – also known as the World Court – to order a halt to Israel’s offensive in Gaza
The demand for such an emergency measure is part of a larger case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denounced South Africa’s claim
The court previously rejected Israel’s demand to throw out the case and ordered it to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians.
The ICJ’s rulings are binding but it has no power to enforce them. It has ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail, for example.
But a ruling against Israel would increase international legal pressure after the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor said on May 20 he was seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders
In hearings last week, South Africa charged that what it described as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza had hit a “new and horrific stage” with its assault on Rafah, the last part of Gaza to face a ground invasion.
The Rafah campaign is “the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people”, argued Mr Vaughan Lowe, a lawyer for South Africa.
“It was Rafah that brought South Africa to the court. But it is all Palestinians as a national, ethnical and racial group who need the protection from genocide that the court can order,” he added.
Lawyers for Israel hit out at South Africa’s case as being “totally divorced” from reality, saying it made a “mockery” of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention it is accused of breaching.
“Calling something a genocide again and again does not make it genocide. Repeating a lie does not make it true,” said the top lawyer for Israel, Mr Gilad Noam, adding: “There is a tragic war going on, but there is no genocide.”
Israeli troops began their ground assault on parts of Rafah early in May, defying international opposition including from top ally the US, which voiced fears for the more than one million civilians trapped in the city.
Israel has ordered mass evacuations from the city, where it has vowed to eliminate Hamas’ tunnel network and the group’s remaining fighters.
The UN says more than 800,000 people have fled. AFP, REUTERS
