By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected a South Africa’s request to impose urgent measures to safeguard Rafah in the Gaza Strip, but stressed that Israel must respect earlier measures imposed late last month at a preliminary stage in a landmark genocide case.
South Africa announced Tuesday that it had lodged an “urgent request” with the top UN court to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah breach provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case alleging genocide.
The International Court of Justice said in a statement, that the “perilous situation” in Rafah “demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024, which are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, and does not demand the indication of additional provisional measures.”
The world court added that Israel “remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order, including by ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
The statement cited U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying that the court noted “the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, ‘would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences’, as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General.”
Despite the rejection of its latest request, South Africa welcomed the ICJ’s latest decision.
It affirmed its view that the “perilous situation” in Gaza demanded the “immediate and effective implementation” of the emergency measures the court ordered in its January 26 decision, it said in a statement late Friday.
“The court has unequivocally explained that compliance with the existing provisional measures requires Israel to ensure the safety and security of all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,”read the statement.
Israel has identified Rafah as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza and vowed to continue its offensive there. An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza’s population, has crammed into the city, most of them displaced people who fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Israel has said it will evacuate the civilians before attacking, though international aid officials have said there is nowhere to go due to the vast devastation left behind by the offensive.
On Monday, Israel’s military said it had freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah. This came as a wave of airstrikes on the city killed scores of Palestinians,
Since the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas in response to its 7 October attacks which killed 1,200 people in Israel, the Israeli military has repeatedly told Palestinians to evacuate to the south of Gaza ahead of a ground invasion.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 28,775 people have been killed and 68,552 wounded in Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7, the vast majority women and children.
Now, the majority of the enclave’s roughly 2.2 million people are seeking refuge in makeshift tents in Rafah – making it one of the most densely populated areas on earth.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, warned that Israel’s plan to evacuate Palestinians sheltering in Rafah was “extremely worrying”, and that proceeding with the plan “could have gravely devastating consequences for the 1.4 million people who have nowhere left to go.”