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ICJ Issues Ruling in Case Against Israel

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 24, 2024 12:00 PM

On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must halt its operations in Rafah. The 13-2 ruling comes after South Africa brought a case against Israel for its handling of the Israeli-Hamas war perpetrated after Hamas launched an attack on October 7. Rafah is where Hamas operates, and Israel has gone through great lengths to evacuate civilians. 

Just like the United Nations that it is part of, the ICJ is an anti-Israel body with anti-Israel members.

The ruling ordered Israel to "Immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;" as well as "Maintain open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance[.]" Israel is also ordered to "submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order, within one month as from the date of this Order." 

There's also reference to claims of genocide, an anti-Israel narrative used against the Jewish State. Israel must also "Take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of theUnited Nations to investigate allegations of genocide[.]"

There is special attention to do with humanitarian assistance throughout the order.

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The order reminded early on how the January 26, 2024 order noted that "The State of Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip..."

Israel has not only looked to evacuate civilians, but also monitor humanitarian aid. 

While "humanitarian" appears over two dozen times in the 18-page order, mostly to do with humanitarian aid and assistance for those in Gaza, the terrorist attack from October 7 that started this war is barely mentioned. With such an attack, Hamas broke a ceasefire that had been in place, killing 1,200 Israelis. Men, women, and children were slaughtered, and not even babies or Holocaust survivors were spared. Hamas also engaged in kidnapping, rape, and torture, with approximately 240 people taken hostage, many of them still in captivity. 

The instances are brief, with the latter example coming at the very end:

The Court recalls that, in its Order of 26 January 2024, it noted that the military operation conducted by Israel following the attack of 7 October 2023 had resulted in “a large number of deaths and injuries, as well as the massive destruction of homes, the forcible displacement of the vast majority of the population, and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure” (Application of theConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip(South Africa v. Israel), Provisional Measures, Order of 26 January 2024, para. 46)... 

...

In its Orders of 26 January 2024 and 28 March 2024, the Court expressed its grave concern over the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.The Court finds it deeply troubling that many of these hostages remain in captivity and reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.

Speaking of the release of hostages, that is why Israel has been going into Rafah. What ceasefire "agreements" that Hamas has claimed its come to are not in good faith and would not even necessarily involve the return of hostages who are alive. 

As Leah covered earlier on Friday, the IDF announced the recovery of three more bodies of hostages who were killed. 

The order comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor announced on Monday that it was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. 

While President Joe Biden released a brief statement calling the ICC order "outrageous," it does not appear that the White House or the State Department have yet released any statements on the ICJ's ruling. Affiliated social media accounts have, however, since posted about unrelated topics. 

Reporting from The Hill highlighted how "the court has limited ability to enforce its ruling and Israel is unlikely to adhere to the court’s order."

In a strongly worded post, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pointed out that "the ICJ can go to hell," also noting the order "will and should be ignored by Israel."

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett released a video message and explained in a post over X how the order is problematic, explaining how the ICJ ruled against their preference to fight the war in a way to "Move millions of civilians temporarily away from harm’s way, and then fight Hamas in the emptied area," which Bennett noted is "Much tougher, slower and costlier in Israeli soldiers’ lives," but Israel "chose this, to reduce civilian death."

Bennett's post also made clear, though, that "Well, if Israel wants to survive, we cannot accept this immoral ruling," adding "We choose to live. We have no choice."


The Israel War Room has posted and reposted at great length on Friday morning regarding the news, highlighting how the ruling helps Hamas, especially since the terrorist organization praised the decision.