The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to “stop immediately” its military operations in Rafahputting Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in trouble, which considers it essential to invade that town in southern Gaza to defeat the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
After the announcement of the ruling of the highest judicial body of the UN, Netanyahu summoned several ministers of his cabinet for “consultations,” the head of government’s office indicated.
Israel must “immediately stop its military offensive and any other actions in the Rafah Governorate that impose living conditions on the Palestinians of Gaza that could lead to their total or partial physical destruction“said the court, based in The Hague.
The ICJ also ordered Israel to keep the crossing open. Rafah so that Gazans can receive humanitarian aid “Without restrictions”.
And he asked for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack on Israeli soil and held since then in Gaza.
Israel He argued in court that an imposed ceasefire would allow a regrouping of Hamas fighters and make it impossible to release the hostages.
The decisions of the ICJ They are legally binding, but the agency has no means to implement them.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry indicated that it will issue a statement on the matter, “when it’s ready”.
Without waiting for that official reaction, the Minister of Finance, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, a supporter of an offensive against Rafah, stated on the social networkHistory will judge those who are today alongside the Nazis of Hamas Daesh”, assimilating Hamas, which governs Gaza, with the jihadist group Islamic State (whose acronym in Arabic is Daesh).
The ICJ ruled based on a request from South Africa, which maintains that the Israeli offensive in Gaza constitutes a “genocide”.
Hamas He welcomed the ruling, although he considered that Israel should cease its offensive throughout the Palestinian territory.
The prosecutor of another supranational court, the International Criminal Court (ICC), called this week for arrest warrants to be issued against Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders.
Prosecutor Karim Khan believes that the leaders of both sides could be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
Bombings
During the night, Israeli fighter jets flew over the Gaza Strip and detonations were heard in the north, AFP teams confirmed, who also reported that Israeli warships fired on the coast.
The Israeli army reported gunshots and mortar fire against its soldiers in the center of the Strip.
The war began on October 7, when Islamist commandos killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
The militants also kidnapped 252 people. Israel claims that 121 remain captives in Gaza, of whom 37 have reportedly died.
In response to the attack, Israel launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip, in which 35,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died so far, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry.
Pressure on Israel
The decisions of these courts increase international pressure on Israel.
Spain, Ireland and Norway announced this week their intention to formally recognize Palestine as a State starting next Tuesday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned that the decision of these three countries would “more difficult to promote an agreement for the release of the hostages.”
However, Israel authorized on Thursday the resumption of negotiations on a new truce – which would also involve the release of the hostages in Gaza -, which have been stalled for weeks.
The director of the CIA, William Burns, will be in Paris this Friday or Saturday to try to reactivate the negotiations, which are being carried out indirectly with the mediation of the United States, Qatar and Egypt, a Western source familiar with the case told AFP. .
French President Emmanuel Macron will receive the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan on Friday night to address the “situation in the Middle East” his office announced.
Brazilian and Mexican hostages killed
The Israeli military announced that it recovered the bodies of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack, including two with Mexican and Brazilian nationality.
The bodies of the French-Mexican Orión Hernández Radoux, the Israeli-Brazilian Michel Nisenbaum and the Israeli Hanan Yablonka were recovered overnight in Jabaliya, in the north of the enclave.
Source: Gestion
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