JND orders Israel to stop “immediately against the offensive in Rafah

The International Court of Justice (GJND) ordered Israel to immediately stop its military offensive in Rafah, south of Gaza.

According to the JND, Israel must stop any other action in Rafah, which could exacerbate Palestinian living in Rafah, Gaza.

Israel is unlikely to implement such an order as the JND said the situation at the Gaza Strip has deteriorated.

In the JND decision, it also said that Israel “should keep open the checkpoint at Rafah” that links Gaza with Egypt, “for the unhindered delivery of basic services and humanitarian aid”.

The court said Israel should offer access to investigators in the besieged territory and report within a month of progress made.

The decision was taken by a panel of 15 judges from around the world, with 13 votes per and two against. The judge from Uganda and Israel voted against the decision.

Immediately after the Israeli prime minister's decision, Benjamin Netayah said he would hold a special meeting of ministers to decide how to respond. Meanwhile, opposition leader Jair Lapid condemned the verdict.

The fact that the JND does not link the end of the military operation in Rafah to the release of hostages, and Israel's right to defend itself against terror, is a terrible moral failure”, he said.
South Africa had asked the tribunal, headquartered at The Hague, to order the ban on Israeli offensive in Rafah and the withdrawal of troops from all over the Gaza Strip.

What's the JND?

The JND, also known as the World Court, is the UN's highest legal body, established in 1945 to address disputes between states. It should not be confused with the International Criminal Court (GJNP), based on the treaty, also in The Hague, which handles cases of war crimes against individuals.

The 15th JND College, which is expanded by an additional judge elected by Israel in this case because there is already a judge from South Africa dealing with border disputes and more and more issues raised by states accusing others of violating the obligations of the UN Treaty.

South Africa and Israel are signatories of the 1948 Genocide Convention that gives the JND jurisdiction to decide about disputes over the treaty. While the issue concerns Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, Palestinians have no official role in the procedure.

All states that have signed the Genocide Convention are forced not to commit genocide and prevent and punish it. The treaty defines genocide as “acts intended to destroy, entirely or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

What is the case of South Africa?
The initial 84-page file, handed down by South Africa three months after the war, says that by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious mental and body injuries and creating conditions for life “calculated to bring their physical destruction”, Israel is committing genocide against them.

At the hearing sessions in January, South Africa focused on Israel's failure to provide basic things such as food, water, medicine, fuel, housing and other humanitarian aid to Gaza during the war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas declared terrorist by the US and the EU. She also referred to Israel's ongoing bombing campaign, which Gaza health authorities say has killed more than 35,000 people.

On May 16, South Africa made a new appeal to the court, asking it to order Israeli forces to stop operations in Rafah, southern Gaza, where nearly half of the 2.3 million residents of the territory had sought refuge from the offensive. She also asked the court to order Israel to completely withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip.

What is Israel's response?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah has dismissed the charges of genocide as cruel. Israel says it does everything it can to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza and accuse Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields a charge Hamas denies.

Israel says it must have the right to defend itself after the October 7th Hamas-led attacks in Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were kidnapped, according to Israeli data. In presenting counterargument on May 17th, Israel said that South Africa's request is “brought to the Genocide Convention” and asked the court to reject the request.

What has the JND put on this case so far?

After the first round of hearings on emergency measures in January, the court found it credible that Israel had violated certain rights guaranteed to Palestinians in Gaza under the Genocide Convention. Judges ordered Israel to refrain from acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and ensure that its troops do not commit genocide acts against Palestinians.

According to the Genocide Convention, acts of genocide include the killing of members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental injuries to them, and the deliberate cause of living conditions that are estimated to result in total or partial destruction of the group.

Judges also ordered Israel to take action to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. In March, the court issued other urgent measures and ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective actions to provide basic food supplies to Palestinians in Gaza.

On 24 May, the court will make a ruling regarding the latest request for immediate intervention, or emergency measures, required by South Africa, not just in the case of genocide. The genocide ruling may take several years.

The JND's decisions are final and without complaint, but the JND has no way of implementing them. A decision against Israel could damage the country's international reputation and create a legal precedent.