The United Nations-run International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday issued a ruling on the application of South Africa, which sought a complete ban on IDF operations in Rafah. While some media have asserted that the ICJ called on Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah,” that is an oversimplified version that Israel and four of the ICJ Justices dispute.
In fact, the media is disregarding the second part of the operative order (emphasis added):
“Immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;”
Responding to the ICJ ruling, the Israeli government vowed to continue the Rafah operation, stating that it did not constitute a threat to the the physical destruction of the Palestinian people. “The Israeli declaration said that the IDF has not and will not carry out military activity in the Rafah area that would destroy the Palestinian people, and was in compliance with international law,” the Jerusalem Post reported Friday.
The ICJ decision comes as Israeli military continues to find bodies of hostages murdered by Hamas in terror tunnels across Gaza.
While still holding around 120 Israeli hostages, including women and children, for more than seven months, Hamas is counting on the UN and international pressure to save its terror leadership and fighting force from total destruction. Hamas and other Palestinian outfits ‘welcomed’ court’s ruling. Hamas called on the UN Security Council to enforce the judgement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to eliminate Hamas fighting force, and destroy terror tunnels and weapons cache. The BBC reported Friday “there is no immediate indication that Israel will change course as a result of Friday’s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”
IDF “tanks are pushing closer to the centre of Rafah and just as the decision was being read out, a series of air strikes sent a huge black cloud billowing over Rafah,” the UK broadcaster added.
The BBC’s assessment was confirmed by Israeli media reports on Saturday. Reporting on the military operations in Rafah, the Times of Israel noted Saturday that IDF eliminated a terror “cell that had opened fire at troops was killed, and several tunnel shafts were found and destroyed, alongside caches of weapons.”
The i24NEWS reported Hamas and Palestinian Authority’s rection:
The two main Palestinian factions, the jihadists of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, on Friday welcomed the International Court of Justice’s order for Israel to halt military operations in Rafah.”We welcome the decision by the World Court that calls on the Zionist occupation forces to end its military aggression on Rafah. We believe it is not enough since the occupation aggression across the Gaza Strip and especially in northern Gaza is just as brutal and dangerous,” a Hamas official said.”We call upon the U.N. Security Council to immediately implement this demand by the World Court into practical measures to compel the Zionist enemy to implement the decision. We welcome the court’s request to allow investigation committees to reach the Gaza Strip to investigate acts of war of genocide against the Palestinian people and Hamas pledges to cooperate with investigation committees.”The PA said that “The presidency welcomes the decision issued by the International Court of Justice, which represents an international consensus on the demand to stop the all-out war on Gaza.”
The UN court’s decision comes after The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, on Monday sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the Israeli military operation against Hamas terrorists following the October 7 massacre.
Meanwhile, the Israeli troops were operating in northern Gaza and Rafah as ground offensive against Hamas enters its eighth month.
For nearly three week, Israeli troops is operating in the northern Gaza city of Jabaliya, where Hamas terrorists are trying to regroup themselves. The IDF was eliminating terrorists and dismantled their infrastructure. “IDF troops continue their operational activity in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. Over the past day, the troops dismantled terrorist infrastructure, launch sites, and military structures, and located numerous weapons,” the IDF revealed in a press release. “In addition, IDF troops eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and aerial strikes, including terrorists who directed attacks at IDF troops operating in the area.”
The IDF was also targeting Hamas terror targets in Rafah. “Yesterday (Friday), in IDF operational activity in specific areas of Rafah, IDF troops eliminated a terrorist cell that opened fire on the troops during close-quarters combat. IDF troops conducted searches in the area for weapons and Hamas terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF statement added. “The troops located and dismantled tunnel shafts and terrorist infrastructure, as well as large quantities of weapons in the area, including military equipment, weapons parts, and explosives.”
Debunking the myth of constant shortages in Gaza, a new Israeli study found that there was enough food supplies to meet the needs of the enclave’s population. The study, based on the entry of aid trucks in recent months, concluded that the “amount of food delivered per capita should be sufficient for the entire Gazan population.”
The food and fuel shortages have largely been created by Hamas terrorists hijacking trucks entering Gaza. Besides stoking international outcry over a self-inflicted crisis, Hamas terrorists enrich themselves by selling stolen food back to Gazans on the black market.
Braving Hamas rocket fire, the IDF soldiers were risking their lives to keep food and essential supplies entering Gaza from Israel. In early May, four Israeli soldiers were killed in an Hamas rocket attack on Kerem Shalom, the main humanitarian crossing between Israel and Gaza.
The Times of Israel reported:
A group of highly respected academics and public health officials who authored a working paper on the amount of food entering the Gaza Strip during the war have concluded that the supply from January through April is sufficient for the population’s daily energy and protein needs.Analyzing data from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) agency of the Defense Ministry, which includes the weight of consignments of specific food commodities and standardized food parcels delivered to Gaza, the authors found that the mean energy availability across four months was 3,163 kcal per person, per day.This significantly exceeds the widely accepted standard of 2,100 kcals per person, per day established by the Sphere humanitarian organization, for the minimum amount of food aid required in response to a crisis. (…)“This in-depth analysis highlights the fact that the amount of food delivered per capita should be sufficient for the entire Gazan population, and meets Sphere humanitarian recommendations for food aid delivery to conflict-affected populations, during the period examined,” the new study found.
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