THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, a city in war-torn Gaza where thousands of people were killed and displaced following a war between Israeli forces and Hamas.
Nawaf Salam, the ICJ president, announced the ruling stating that the humanitarian situation in Rafah has “deteriorated further” since court’s March 28.
The ICJ announced the majority ruling with 13-2 on an emergency request made by South Africa seeking an end to Israeli offensive in Rafah.
The ICJ president said: “The court is not convinced that the evacuation efforts and the related measures that Israel affirms to have undertaken to enhance the security of civilians in the Gaza Strip and in particular those recently displaced from Rafah governorate sufficient to alleviate the immense risk, which the Palestinian population is exposed to as a result of the military offensive in Rafah.”
He said the humanitarian situation in the city is now classified as “disastrous”.
It is recalled more than 900,000 Palestinians have been displaced by fighting in just two weeks and now they are living without shelter, food, water and medicine.
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