While reading the new provisional measures during a session at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, ICJ Justice Nawaf Salam said Israel must abide by its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention — to which Israel is a signatory — and must “immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governate which may inflict upon the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction in whole and in part.” More than 75 percent of Gaza is under evacuation orders. Since the start of the military campaign last October, evacuation orders have pushed the Palestinian population south. Rafah, which borders Egypt, is now home to 1.4 million Palestinians, half of whom are children, with many having nowhere else to go. The latest provisional measures came in response to a request by South Africa on May 10, asserting to the court that Israel is continuing to violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention in defiance of prior ICJ orders for Israel to cease such actions. By a vote of 13-2, the ICJ voted in favor of the new provisional measures demanding a stop to the military offensive, the immediate unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, and unimpeded access to inspectors for fact-finding missions to investigate allegations of genocide. “The court is not convinced that evacuation efforts and related measures that Israel has affirmed to have undertaken to enhance the security of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and in particular those recently displaced from the Rafah governate, are sufficient to alleviate immense risks to which the Palestinian population is exposed as a result of the military offensive in Rafah,” Salam said. On December 29, South Africa asked the ICJ to take up a case to determine whether Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. Since that case began, the ICJ has issued provisional measures in January and March. Those provisional measures were not just targeted at Israel. They also demanded that Hamas and other armed groups unconditionally release all hostages held since the Oct. 7 attack. Salam said that the ICJ noted that the situation in Gaza has deteriorated since March’s provisional measures were announced. A day after South Africa’s latest ICJ filing, the Biden administration report said it is “reasonable” to conclude that Israel’s military actions since October 7 have been “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law.The United Nations’ top court has ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah in southern Gaza immediately and to open its border crossing to allow aid deliveries.
