The International Court of Justice rejected a South African request to impose urgent measures to safeguard Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the UN’s top court said on Friday.
Despite the rejection, they stressed that Israel must respect earlier measures imposed late last month at a preliminary stage in a landmark genocide case.
The ICJ said in a statement that the “perilous situation” in Rafah and the rest of the Gaza Strip “demands immediate and effective implementation” of the provisional measures indicted by its court order on Jan. 26, but does not demand the “indication of additional provisional measures.”
The world court added that Israel “remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order, including by ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
The statement cited UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The court noted “the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, ‘would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences’, as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General.”
“The court has affirmed our view that the perilous situation demands immediate & effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024 … [and] has clarified that this includes #Rafah,” Clayson Monyela, the spokesperson for the South African foreign ministry, said on X.
The court’s statement was issued on the Jewish Sabbath, when government offices are closed. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
South Africa announced Tuesday that it had lodged an “urgent request” with the ICJ to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah breach provisional orders the court handed down in January in a case alleging genocide.
On Thursday, Israel urged the world court to reject what it called South Africa’s “highly peculiar and improper” request.
Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza and claims it does all it can to spare civilians and is only targeting Hamas militants. It claims Hamas’s tactic of embedding in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.
Even so, the court last month ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza — though it stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has destroyed most of the Palestinian enclave.
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said he advised the government not to say it doesn’t ‘accept the premise’ of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The government was accused of spreading confusion about its position following its statements on the case last month. Oliphant made the comments in a call with a constituent who is advocating for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Rafah invasion looms
The ICJ’s decision comes as Israel threatens invade Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians — most of them displaced people from elsewhere in the Gaza Strip — currently reside.
Israel has said it will evacuate the civilians before attacking, though international aid officials and Israel’s own allies have said there is nowhere to go due to the vast devastation left behind by the offensive.
Nevertheless, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently stressed that Israel cannot achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas without an invasion of Rafah, which he claims is the militant group’s “last bastion.” He reiterated his intent on Wednesday to press ahead with a ground invasion.
Ramzi Okasha, who is living with his family in a tent in Rafah, says people are afraid of a possible Israeli incursion into the southern Gazan city. Okasha told freelance journalist Mohamed El Saife the logistics of evacuating civilians from refugee camps seem all but impossible should an invasion happen.
More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its military incursion into Gaza in October 2023, according to Palestinian officials. This includes more than 12,000 children.
Israel has faced criticism from human rights agencies for its offensive, though Israel claims it’s justified due to the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Around 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Another 240 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.