The president of the international court of justice, Nawaf Salam, said the humanitarian situation in Rafah had deteriorated further and was now classified as "disastrous", meaning the ICJ's previously issued provisional measures were insufficient.
He said the court had voted by a majority of 13 to two that "Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide... 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 would bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."
The order by the ICJ is not enforceable, and Israeli ministers indicated they would not comply with it.
Israeli forces stepped up military strikes on Gaza, bombing targets in Rafah even as the ICJ delivered its decision, residents and medics said.
The ruling by the ICJ is the court's third and by far the most significant - intervention in the conflict and comes four days after the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, a separate body also based in The Hague, said he was seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
The ruling will increase pressure on the US and the UK to bring their influence to bear on Israel.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 25, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 25, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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