The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Friday that Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in the Rafah Governorate of the Gaza Strip and keep open the Rafah border crossing for the unimpeded delivery of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid at scale. The new interim measures come as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the bombed and besieged Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate, with extremely limited aid reaching the besieged enclave.
However, the ICJ once again stopped short of ordering Israel to cease all military operations in Gaza, despite the country's failure to fully implement the Court's orders of January and March this year, and despite the disproportionate nature of its military's actions under international law, which are characterized by grave war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.
While noting “the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians”, the Court also ordered Israel to halt any further action in Rafah, “which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”.
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the Charter of the United Nations in June 1945 and became operational in April 1946. The ICJ, based in The Hague, Netherlands, is composed of 15 judges elected by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council for nine-year terms. All judgments of the Court are binding on all UN member states.
After weeks of intensifying military bombardments of Rafah, where more than 1.2 million Palestinians had fled as a result of Israeli evacuation orders and military attacks covering at least three-quarters of the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, Israel launched its military operation in the governorate on May 7.
As a result, more than 800,000 people - a third of Gaza's population - have been displaced from Rafah. Civilians are once again fleeing in fear for their lives, arriving in areas without adequate shelter, sanitation, food and clean water.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Friday that ground incursions and heavy fighting continued, particularly in Jabalya in the north as well as eastern and central Rafah in the south.
In its ruling on Friday, the ICJ also reaffirmed the provisional measures ordered on January 26 and March 28, “which should be immediately and effectively implemented”.
In a landmark ruling on January 26, the Court upheld the right of Palestinians to be protected from acts of genocide and ordered Israel to "take all measures within its power" to prevent acts amounting to genocide.
Among the interim measures, the ICJ ordered Israel to allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave and to provide urgently needed basic services to the Palestinians there.
In January, the ICJ began hearings in a case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel denies the charge of genocide, even though its security forces killed or wounded more than five percent of the civilian population in a matter of months, and its political leadership deprived the people of Gaza of access to basic means of survival.
On March 28, the ICJ issued new interim measures against Israel as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the bombarded and besieged Gaza Strip continued to deteriorate. The legally binding order requires Israel to take "all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay" to send in "urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance", including food, water, shelter, fuel and medical supplies.
The Court also unanimously ordered Israel to increase “the capacity and number of land crossing points” and to maintain “them open for as long as necessary”. In its March order, the ICJ said Israel must act "in full co-operation with the United Nations".
Despite the ICJ's two previous rulings, Israel has not stopped its relentless attacks on Gaza and continues to fail to provide or even facilitate the delivery of essential supplies for the survival of some 2.3 million people living in Gaza.
In its new order Friday, the Court emphasized that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip which “was at serious risk of deteriorating, has deteriorated”, and has done so even further since the Court adopted its order of March 28.
The entire population of the Gaza Strip - more than 2.2 million people - is facing acute hunger. As a result of the widespread impact of Israel's war and its continued blockade of aid, famine is imminent in northern Gaza and is expected to occur any time between now and May, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
The rest of the Gaza Strip is also at risk of famine if hostilities do not cease and humanitarian aid does not reach those most in need. 1.1 million people - half the population - in Gaza face catastrophic levels of food insecurity. People are dying of starvation due to the lack of food in the tiny enclave.
The entry of aid into Gaza remains severely restricted. Between the start of the military operation in Rafah on May 7 and May 23, only 906 truckloads of humanitarian aid - including about 800 of food - entered Gaza through all operating entry points, including 143 through the Kerem Shalom crossing, 62 through Erez, 604 through Erez West, and 97 through the floating dock.
This is an average of about 50 trucks per day, compared to about 500 truckloads of goods entering Gaza every working day before the current crisis - a monthly average of nearly 10,000 truckloads of commercial and humanitarian goods.
OCHA chief Martin Griffiths, who is also UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said Friday that the ground incursion at Rafah has cut off the flow of aid to southern Gaza and crippled a humanitarian operation already stretched beyond its breaking point.
“It has halted food distributions in the south and slowed the supply of fuel for Gaza's lifelines – bakeries, hospitals and water wells – to a mere trickle,” he said in a statement.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned this week that “humanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse” and “if food and humanitarian supplies do not begin to enter Gaza in massive quantities, desperation and hunger will spread.”
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) reports that no hospitals are currently accessible in North Gaza governorate; and communicable diseases are on the rise, with children under five particularly affected. The UN agency warns that “access to health care in Gaza is further shrinking.”
Remaining hospitals in Gaza are struggling with severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies, and are unable to replenish supplies. Hospitals, which are particularly protected under international humanitarian law (IHL), have been targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Since the escalation of hostilities on 7 October, WHO has documented a total of 458 attacks on health services, affecting 102 health facilities, including 32 of Gaza's 36 hospitals.
As IDF military operations in Rafah intensify, IDF attacks in northern Gaza have also increased, resulting in further displacement, killing and maiming of Palestinian civilians who, after seven months of conflict, urgently need access to essential goods and services, including food, water, shelter and health care.
Since October 7, at least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 80,200 wounded in Gaza, many with life-changing injuries that will leave them permanently disabled, including more than 1,000 children who have lost one or more upper or lower limbs.
Among those killed are at least 264 aid workers, 193 UN staff, 493 health workers and 147 journalists. More than 10,000 people - including thousands of children - are missing and presumed dead.
Some 1.7 million people - more than 75 percent of Gaza's total population - have been displaced by Israeli military attacks or Israeli evacuation orders. Among those uprooted by the war are 1 million children, including some 17,000 unaccompanied or separated boys and girls.
While Israel is increasingly isolated globally, its closest allies - including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany - continue to provide political and military support for a war against civilians that has already claimed more than 35,000 lives and been marked by serious war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by Israeli forces.
These include collective punishment of civilians, use of starvation as a method of warfare, denial of humanitarian aid, indiscriminate killing of civilians, deliberate killing of civilians, disproportionate attacks, forcible transfer, torture, enforced disappearance and other atrocity crimes as defined by international humanitarian law.
On Monday, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the war in Gaza. Arrest warrants have been requested for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders.
Based on evidence collected and examined by the Office of the Prosecutor, Khan said he has reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, as prohibited under the Rome Statute of the ICC.
These alleged crimes include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, wilfully causing great suffering, serious injury to body or health, cruel treatment, wilful killing, murder, directing attacks against a civilian population, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Established in 2002 under the multilateral Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international court based in The Hague, the Netherlands. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial organ of the United Nations, which hears cases between states. The ICC, which has 124 state parties, is independent but is endorsed by the UN General Assembly.
The ICC is the only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The Office of the Prosecutor is an independent organ of the Court. The ICC Prosecutor conducts preliminary examinations and investigations and is the only person who can bring cases before the Court.
Further information
Full text: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Request for the modification of the Order of 28 March 2024, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Court Order, published May 24, 2024
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-sum-01-00-en.pdf
Full text: Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine, International Criminal Court, Office of the Prosecutor, released May 20, 2024
https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state