Israel has called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to reject a request by South Africa regarding a military offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s objections to the request was placed before the ICJ in The Hague and are detailed in a statement of observations published on the ICJ website.
South Africa made the application following the announcement of a pending military operation by the Israel Defence Forces in Rafah, which lies directly on the border with Egypt.
It called on the ICJ to exercise its power “to prevent further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza” and to check whether the operation did not breach the ICJ’s ruling issued at the end of January.
More than one million people had fled to Gaza, many of them fleeing pursuant to Israeli military evacuation orders, from homes and areas that have largely been destroyed by Israel, according to South Africa.
“They could now be threatened directly. The unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the State of Israel, had already led to, and would result in, further large-scale killing and harm.
“It would create destruction “in serious and irreparable breach” of the Genocide Convention and of the ICJ’s ruling at the end of January, ” South African added in the request.
It is not yet known when the ICJ will rule on the matter.
ICJ’s rulings are binding, but the court does not have the means to enforce them.
