The International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) ruled today (Friday) that Israel must immediately cease the military operation in Rafah, Gaza Strip.
Judge Nawaf Salam, the president of the court, Lebanese, announced that the judges ruled by a majority of 13 to 2 that “any action that could harm the Palestinian population” must be stopped.
Judge Salam, expressed his wish for the safe return of the abductees and urged for an end to any actions in Rafah that could cause harm to civilians. He emphasized that the situation in Rafah is a serious disaster.
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As per the court’s ruling, * Israel is required to cease all activities in Rafah. * Israel must grant investigators unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip to preserve evidence on the ground. * Additionally, Israel must provide a report on its actions within a month. * Lastly, Israel must open the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian aid entry.
Since Israel has signed the Convention for the Prevention of Genocide, which South Africa claimed to the Hague Tribunal, Israel is legally obligated to follow the orders.
However, if Israel does not comply, the matter may be brought to the UN Security Council. At that point, the question will be whether the United States will veto the Security Council’s decision.
Israel actually made significant efforts to evacuate the population to shelters and managed to do so in less than two weeks. Last week, the Americans were convinced that Israel was indeed meeting its humanitarian obligations in Rafah, and they withdrew their opposition to the operation in Rafah. This means that the US representative in the Security Council will not have any issue with casting a veto.
The decisions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague are balanced. It demands that Israel stop the military operation insofar as it harms the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian civilian population. In doing so, the court actually adopted the American government’s position regarding the operation in Rafah.
In any case, the commentators in the Israeli media say:
1 – The Court’s order may lead to measures by some countries that will be afraid to make arms deals with Israel – if Israel’s military activity is contrary to the Court’s order. (Globes)
2 – The court’s decision boosts claims against Israel in the international arena, and there is a fear that it will lead to further measures. (Globes)
3 – The government’s ministers from the extreme right who work to stop humanitarian aid to the Gazan citizens, and collaborate with Jewish terrorists, who violently stopped trucks with humanitarian aid to Gaza, may result in orders that are much more serious and hurt Israel. (Ynet)
The court order is also an opportunity for us. The State of Israel can certainly turn this order into a lever that will work in its favor – if it declares that it is ready to stop the fighting in Rafah, as the International Court of Justice wants – on the condition that Hamas returns all the abductees and an effective international peace and policing force enters the Strip, which will ensure that Hamas does not attack the State of Israel again. (Ynet)
Israel does not have to stop fighting in Rafah, but the legitimacy to defend ourselves has been compromised, concludes Ron Ben Ishai on Ynet.
