ICJ says Israel must "immediately halt" its military offensive in Rafah, citing Genocide Convention

The International Court of Justice ruled Friday that Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, Gaza. 

The court cannot enforce the order on its own, which came as a result of South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.

The 13-2 ruling comes after Gaza health authorities said at least 35,000 people have been killed under Israeli bombardment. Hundreds of thousands of people have also fled Rafah amid fears of a large-scale invasion, The New York Times reported.

“The court considers that in conformity with obligations under the Genocide Convention, Israel must 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,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam said.

Since the ICJ can sometimes take years to rule on the merits of a case, it often issues “provisional measures” in an effort to stop a conflict from escalating in the meantime. South Africa’s government filed an urgent request for such a measure on May 10, accusing Israel of issuing evacuation orders in Rafah to “endanger rather than protect civilian life,” CNN reported.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded to the ICJ ruling on social media, posting a picture of Israel’s founder and first prime minister, David Ben-Gurin, with the quote: “Our future does not depend on what the Gentiles will say, but on what the Jews will do." Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid likewise accused the court of “abject moral failure."