South Africa on Tuesday appealed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to block the Israeli military operations against the last remaining major Hamas stronghold of Rafah. The government of South Africa “appeals to the International Court of Justice, requesting that the court consider ordering Israel to refrain from attacking the Gazan city of Rafah,” The Times of Israel reported.
The African nation has filed the “urgent request” with The Hague-based United Nations court at a time when the IDF is gearing up to storm the terrorist bastion of Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza, on the Egyptian border. Capturing Rafah is central to Israel’s twin objective of freeing the hostages and eliminating Hamas’s Gaza-based terrorist leadership.
“The IDF is preparing to stage an operation in Rafah to attack four largely intact Hamas battalions situated in the city. Israel believes senior Hamas leaders are also present in Rafah or below it the Hamas tunnel system, along with some of the Israeli hostages the terror group is holding captive,” the news website noted. The capture of the terrorist stronghold of Rafah will also close Hamas’s sole weapons supply and escape route.
South Africa, a country whose prominent politicians openly call for the genocide of minority White farmers, has joined the Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, in preventing Israel from flushing Hamas out of Gaza and bringing its hostages home.
The Associated Press reported South Africa’s move at the UN court:
South Africa’s government said Tuesday it had lodged an “urgent request” with the U.N.’s International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah are a breach of provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case alleging genocide.South Africa has asked the court to weigh whether Israel’s intention to launch a ground offensive in Rafah — where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled in an attempt to escape fighting — represents a “further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.” (…)South Africa alleges Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in its war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip and lodged a case with the world court. The court handed down a preliminary ruling last month.Among its six orders, it said Israel must do all it can to prevent the deaths of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza. South Africa had asked the court to order a cease-fire by Israel, but the justices stopped short of that.South Africa is now asking the court to consider further provisional measures against Israel, said Tuesday’s statement released by the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.“The South African government said it was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the State of Israel, has already led to and will result in further large scale killing, harm and destruction,” the statement said “This would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court’s Order of 26 January 2024.”
In January, South Africa took Israel to the top UN court, accusing it of ‘genocide’ over the ongoing IDF operation against Hamas in Gaza launched after the mass killings and hostage-taking on innocent Israeli civilians on October 7. In late January, the court issued a preliminary ruling asking Israel to do everything possible to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza, something the IDF already painstakingly adheres to — even at the cost of giving up the element of surprise and tactical advantage during counter-terrorism operations.
A further ICJ ruling at South Africa’s behest is unlikely to halt the Gaza counter-terrorism offensive entering into its crucial phase. Neither Israel nor the United States recognize the jurisdiction of the UN-run court.
Undeterred by foreign pressure, the Israeli military continues to degrade Hamas’s jihadist fighting force and destroy its terrorist infrastructure, including a vast web of terror tunnels across Gaza.
After weeks of heavy fighting, the IDF has successfully taken ‘operational control’ over parts of Khan Yunis, the Hamas stronghold in the south of Gaza. “IDF troops continued operational activities in western Khan Yunis. The troops killed over 30 terrorists and strengthened operational control of the area with targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure, sniper ambushes and patrols,” the military disclosed in a press release on Tuesday.
The IDF is determined to reach all objectives of the Gaza offensive launched in the wake of the October 7 massacre, IDF Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi assured Tuesday. “We need to eliminate the senior leadership, eliminate more of the enemy’s commanders and operatives, return civilians to their homes safely, and bring the hostages home – a supreme mission and moral obligation,” Lt. General Halevi declared.
The IDF has released video footage and news details surrounding the daring rescue of two Israeli hostages from Hamas-controlled Rafah. The terrorist captors were ‘caught off guard’ and were eliminated before they could react to the approaching Israeli commandos, Israeli news reports suggest.
In a night-time operation on Monday morning, the IDF and Israeli security forces jointly rescued 60-year-old Fernando Simon Marman and 70-year-old Louis Har, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7th from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in southern Israel.
The Israeli news website YNET reported the latest revelations:
New details on the successful rescue of Israeli hostages Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har from the Gaza Strip overnight Monday highlight the security forces’ meticulous planning and the high level of certainty required before the order to go in was given.In fact, earlier plans to extract the two men were not executed because the conditions were not right.During the overnight operation, police counterterrorism units and Shin Bet operatives caught the terrorists off guard in the house where the hostages were being held and eliminated them within seconds. As soon as the troops’ presence was detected, they came under fire from nearby buildings and many more terrorists were killed in the ensuing firefight.A key aspect of such operations is not just breaching the building and rescuing the hostages but also ensuring a safe retreat back across the border to Israel. To that end, an order was given to direct heavy bombardments of Hamas military sites, command centers and police facilities. The terrorists tried to regroup and call for backup but were unsuccessful. A vehicle used by the terrorists to pursue the forces was attacked from the air.The entire operation lasted an hour and a half on the ground, beginning when the forces came under gunfire and concluding with the hostages being transported to Sheba Medical Center in central Israel. During that time, the security services and the IDF demonstrated their distinctive capabilities, which included accurate intelligence, special forces and significant firepower, secured by tanks and helicopters to safely extract the forces from the area.The operation was led by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi from the war room in Southern Command and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar from the command and control center at Shin Bet headquarters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later joined them.
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