The International Court of Justice should reject a South African request that the court issue additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians’ rights in Rafah, Israel argued to the World Court.
Israel said that the emergency measures issued by the ICJ last month already cover “the situation of hostilities in Gaza as a whole,” according to documents released Thursday by the ICJ.
Israel asked the World Court to reject South Africa’s request, which was filed on Tuesday. In that filing, South Africa said there had been a “significant development” since the court’s January ruling, meaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announced offensive on Rafah.
Last month, the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent the deaths of Palestinian civilians, after South Africa, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, accused its military of genocide in Gaza.
Israel has denied it is committing genocide.
It was not clear when the judges will rule on South Africa’s latest request.
At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.
The war started then with the shock Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies and led to the capture of about 240 hostages, 100 of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
Since Israel began its air and ground offensive in Gaza, it has defended its practice of ordering people to evacuate parts of the Gaza Strip throughout the war, saying the warnings are for the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians.
The repeated evacuations and the war’s move from northern Gaza toward the south have pushed more than half of Gaza’s population to seek refuge in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
Australia, Canada and New Zealand on Thursday became the latest to join in an international expression of concern for the Palestinians in Rafah ahead of an expected ground offensive by Israeli forces.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a joint statement that an Israeli operation in Rafah “would be catastrophic.”
“With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating. We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go,” the leaders said.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed similar concerns in a phone call with Netanyahu on Wednesday, days after U.S. President Joe Biden also voiced his opposition to a Rafah attack.
Netanyahu has not given an indication of when a Rafah offensive might take place, but he said Wednesday his military will continue its fight against Hamas militants in Gaza.
“We will fight until complete victory, and this includes a powerful action in Rafah as well, after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier Thursday, Israel’s military conducted an operation inside the main hospital in southern Gaza, while Gaza health officials said Israeli fire killed one person and wounded several others at the site.
An Israel Defense Forces statement said the military had credible intelligence “indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages in the Nasser hospital facility.”
The IDF repeated its accusation that Hamas fighters are using Palestinian civilians as human shields and said Israeli forces had warned people to stay away from the area for their own safety.
“Our message to them is clear: We seek no harm to innocent civilians. We seek to find our hostages and bring them home. We seek to hunt down Hamas terrorists wherever they may be hiding,” the IDF said.
The Hamas-run health ministry said last week that Israeli sniper fire in the area had prevented people from leaving, while medics warned the situation at the hospital was not safe.
Source: voanews.com
