Hague. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) this Friday ordered Israel to “immediately stop” its military operations in Rafah, which places Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in a delicate situation, which considers it essential to invade that town in southern Gaza to defeat the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
After the announcement of the ruling of the highest judicial body of the UN, Netanyahu summoned several ministers of his cabinet for “consultations,” according to the head of government’s office.
Israel must “immediately stop its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governorate that imposes on the Palestinians of Gaza living conditions that could lead to their total or partial physical destruction,” said the court, which is based in The Hague. .
READ MORE: International Court of Justice calls for ‘immediate release’ of Hamas hostages
In addition, the ICJ ordered Israel to keep the Rafah crossing open so that Gazans can receive humanitarian aid “without restrictions” and called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack on Israeli soil. and held since then in Gaza.
Israel argued in court that an imposed ceasefire would allow a regrouping of Hamas fighters and make it impossible to release the hostages.
READ MORE: International Court of Justice calls for ‘immediate release’ of Hamas hostages
ICJ decisions are legally binding, but the body has no means to implement them.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry indicated that it will issue a statement on the matter “when it is ready.”
Without waiting for that official reaction, the Minister of Finance, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, a supporter of an offensive against Rafah, stated on the social network , which governs Gaza, with the jihadist group Islamic State (whose Arabic acronym is Daesh).
The ICJ ruled based on a request from South Africa, which maintains that the Israeli offensive in Gaza constitutes “genocide.”
Clashes between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Hamas movement persist in the Gaza Strip, especially in the city of Rafah. (-/AFP)
Hamas welcomed the ruling, although it considered that Israel should cease its offensive throughout the Palestinian territory.
In another area, the prosecutor of another supranational court, the International Criminal Court (ICC), requested this week that arrest warrants be issued against Netanyahu, his Defense Minister and three Hamas leaders.
Prosecutor Karim Khan believes that the leaders of both sides could be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
Bombings
During the night, Israeli fighter jets flew over the Gaza Strip and detonations were heard in the north, according to teams from this agency. Additionally, Israeli warships were reported to have fired on the coast.
The Israeli army reported gunshots and mortar fire against its soldiers in the center of the Strip.
The war broke out on October 7, when Islamist commandos killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to a report by this agency based on official Israeli data.
The militants also kidnapped 252 people. Israel claims 121 remain captives in Gaza, of whom 37 have died.
In response to the attack, Israel launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip, in which 35,800 Palestinians have died so far, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.
Pressure on Israel
The decisions of these courts increase international pressure on Israel. This week, Spain, Ireland and Norway announced their intention to formally recognize Palestine as a state starting next Tuesday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned that the decision by these three countries would make it even more difficult to promote an agreement for the release of the hostages.
However, Israel authorized on Thursday the resumption of negotiations on a new truce, which would also imply the release of the hostages in Gaza, which have been stalled for weeks.
The director of the CIA, William Burns, will be in Paris this Friday or Saturday to try to reactivate the negotiations, which are being carried out indirectly with the mediation of the United States, Qatar and Egypt, according to an informed Western source. of the case to this agency.
On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron will receive the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan on Friday night to address the “situation in the Middle East,” according to his office.
Brazilian and Mexican hostages killed
The Israeli military announced that it recovered the bodies of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack, including two with Mexican and Brazilian nationality.
The bodies of the French-Mexican Orión Hernández Radoux, the Israeli-Brazilian Michel Nisenbaum and the Israeli Hanan Yablonka were recovered overnight in Jabaliya, in the north of the enclave.
