25-5-2024 (JERUSALEM) Israeli ministers dismissed the ruling by the International Court of Justice on May 24th, ordering Israel to cease its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, vowing instead to continue fighting to free its hostages and defeat Hamas.
The World Court’s ruling was the latest in a series of steps in recent weeks that have deepened Israel’s international isolation over its conduct of the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office rejected the allegations in the case brought by South Africa that Israel was carrying out genocide in Gaza as “false, outrageous and morally repugnant.”
“Israel is acting based on its right to defend its territory and its citizens, consistent with its moral values and in compliance with international law,” it said in a statement, adding that operations in Rafah would not inflict conditions that could bring about the “physical destruction” of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
The war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, has caused a widening gulf between Israel and much of the rest of the world, straining relations with its closest allies, including the United States.
Rafah, near the border with Egypt, had taken in more than one million Palestinians displaced from their homes by the Israeli ground assault until an evacuation order by the military earlier this month sent hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in central Gaza camps.
Outside Israel, harrowing television images of the suffering in the ruins of Gaza, where aid agencies report a growing humanitarian crisis, have caused shock. For Israelis, the devastating attack by Hamas-led gunmen that killed some 1,200 people on the deadliest day in Israel’s history remains a traumatic scar, compounded by the fate of around 250 hostages seized and taken into Gaza.
“The fact that they’re even having this conversation is quite ludicrous, to be honest,” said Adi Levanon, 39, who works in startup investments in Tel Aviv. “We have women, young men, elderly individuals that have been taken hostage. It makes no sense for a country trying to defend and protect its people to not get them back home.”
While the immediate practical impact on Israeli policy is likely limited, the ruling reinforces a defiant national mood already stoked by the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads a hardline nationalist religious party key to Netanyahu’s coalition stability, dismissed the ruling, quoting Israel’s first prime minister: “Our future doesn’t depend on what the Gentiles say but rather what the Jews do.”
Israel calls allegations of genocide outrageous, saying it does everything possible to protect civilians and accusing Hamas of using them as human shields – a charge the Islamist group denies.
Shortly after the Hague ruling, residents in Rafah reported heavy airstrikes as Israeli forces massed at the city’s edges for a long-announced operation to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions based there.
Heavy fighting also continued in other Gaza areas, notably in the northern Jabaliya region, where the army said it had recovered the bodies of three hostages killed on October 7.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said Israel was committed to continuing its “just and necessary campaign” following the October 7 attack, despite the ruling.
“The State of Israel is committed to continue fighting to return its hostages and ensure the security of its citizens – wherever and whenever necessary – including in Rafah,” he stated.
