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.
