UN’s top court orders Israel to halt military offensive in Rafah

The U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice, on Friday ordered Israel to cease its military offensive in Rafah, citing concerns over the safety of Palestinian civilians.

“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governorate,” the court ruling said. It noted that circumstances in Rafah had deteriorated further since the ICJ’s last ruling in March.

The motion was put forward by South Africa, as part of a broader case initiated in December by the African nation that requested the ICJ to rule on Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The World Court has so far pronounced that Israel must take steps to prevent genocide against civilians trapped in the besieged enclave, but has fallen short of mandating a cease-fire.

Israel maintains that its objectives in the Gaza Strip are not to target civilians but to eliminate Palestinian militant group Hamas, which claimed over 1,200 lives in the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, according to official figures. The ensuing Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities there.

ICJ rulings are final and without appeal, but the court cannot directly enforce its decisions. Its pronouncements nevertheless deal heavy reputational blows and risk deepening Israel’s international isolation, amid growing concerns abroad over the proportionality of its response in the Gaza conflict.

This breaking news story is being updated.