2024-02-17 08:09:21
The United Nations Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from South Africa to impose urgent measures to protect Rafah in the Gaza Strip, while also stressing that Israel must respect previous measures imposed in late January under of a historic genocide case.
The International Court of Justice said in a statement that the “dangerous situation” in Rafah “demands the immediate and effective implementation of provisional measures” which she had ordered on January 26.
She said no new orders were necessary because the existing measures “apply throughout the Gaza Strip, including Rafah.”
The World Court added that Israel “remains obligated to comply fully with its obligations under the Genocide Convention” and the January 26 decision which ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent the death, destruction and any act of genocide in Gaza.
Israel said it would evacuate civilians before attacking, although international aid officials said there was nowhere to go because of the vast damage left by the offensive.
South Africa announced on Tuesday that it had filed a “urgent request” to the International Court of Justice to inquire whether Israel’s military operations targeting the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip violate interim orders the court issued last month in a case alleging genocide.
The spokesperson for South African Ministry of Foreign AffairsClayson Monyela, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the Court “confirmed our view that the perilous situation requires the immediate and effective implementation of the interim measures indicated by the Court in its Order of January 26, 2024, which apply throughout the #Gaza Strip and clarified that this includes #Rafah .”
The court’s statement was issued on the Jewish Sabbath, when government offices are closed, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.
Israel on Thursday urged the World Court to reject what it called a request “very particular and inappropriate” from South Africa.
Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza and says it is doing everything in its power to spare civilians, targeting only Hamas militants. He states that Hamas’ tactic of hiding in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.
The interim measures ordered last month were taken at a preliminary stage in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
The Court also asked Hamas to release the hostages still in captivity. Hamas urged the international community to force Israel to carry out the court’s orders.
South Africa’s legal campaign is rooted in issues central to its identity: its ruling party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to its own history. under the white minority apartheid regime, which restricted most black people to “homelands”. Apartheid ended in 1994.
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