2024-02-16 20:33:36
The International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body in the United Nations, on Friday rejected a new request by South Africa once morest Israel, following it announced its readiness to launch an attack on Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip, considering that the Hebrew state must respect the measures it had previously announced.
The International Court of Justice said, “This disturbing situation requires the immediate and effective implementation of the measures issued by the court in its decision dated January 26, 2024, and whose implementation includes all parts of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, so that (the matter) does not require the announcement of additional measures.”
The international court added that Israel “remains obligated to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and the order issued in January, including by ensuring the safety and security of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
In turn, Reuters reported that the Court of Justice indicated that the recent developments in the Gaza Strip and in Rafah would significantly increase what is already considered an “humanitarian nightmare.”
South Africa announced, on Tuesday, that it had submitted an “urgent request” to the International Court of Justice to consider whether the Israeli military operations targeting the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip violate the temporary orders issued by the court last month in the case of genocide allegations.
On Thursday, Israel urged the international court to reject what it called South Africa’s “extremely strange and inappropriate” request.
Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza and says it is doing everything it can to avoid civilian casualties and only targets Hamas militants.
It also says that Hamas’s tactic of concentrating in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.
However, an International Court of Justice last month ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has devastated the Palestinian enclave.
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