Borrell: ICJ Orders on Rafah are Binding, Israel Must Obey

The ICJ - the UN's top court based in the Dutch city of The Hague - on Friday ordered Israel to immediately cease its attack on the city (Reuters)
The ICJ - the UN's top court based in the Dutch city of The Hague - on Friday ordered Israel to immediately cease its attack on the city (Reuters)
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Borrell: ICJ Orders on Rafah are Binding, Israel Must Obey

The ICJ - the UN's top court based in the Dutch city of The Hague - on Friday ordered Israel to immediately cease its attack on the city (Reuters)
The ICJ - the UN's top court based in the Dutch city of The Hague - on Friday ordered Israel to immediately cease its attack on the city (Reuters)

The EU on Saturday exerted pressure on Israel to halt its military operations in Rafah in line with the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), although Tel Aviv said it would ignore the ruling of the UN's top court based in the Dutch city of The Hague.
On Saturday, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell said on X that Israel must obey a UN court order to stop the military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“We take note of the order” handed down to Israel, Borrell said. “ICJ [International Court of Justice] orders are binding on the Parties and they have to be fully and effectively implemented,” dpa reported.
The ICJ on Friday ordered Israel to immediately cease its attack on the city.
In their ruling, the judges at the ICJ, also known as the World Court, called the humanitarian situation in Rafah “disastrous” and said more measures were needed to prevent further harm to the civilian population.
In his post, Borrell highlighted the court order for Israel to “maintain the Rafah crossing open for humanitarian assistance.”
Israel has faced weeks of pre-sentence warnings by the US and European capitals over its all-out assault on Rafah, saying it will lead to a humanitarian disaster.
Israel argues that the attack is necessary to eliminate Hamas.
Tel Aviv has said the actions in Rafah would not “inflict on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
A joint statement issued by the head of Israel's National Security Council and the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said that genocide charges brought by South Africa before the ICJ in the Hague were “false, outrageous and morally repugnant.”
The ICJ said it is not convinced that Israel has undertaken measures to enhance the security of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

 



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.