Cairo/Gaza:

Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaia neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.

Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaia four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there is no substitute for victory in the war against the Islamist operative Hamas.

“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said.

While the offensive focused on Gaza, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, one man was killed and five were wounded in an Israeli strike near the city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The dead man was a member of an operative Islamic Jihad, the group said. The Israeli military issued no comment.

Hours after Netanyahu’s comments about Gaza, the armed wing of Hamas released a video purporting to show weapons-making, in a show of defiance.

The video, which was not immediately verified by Reuters, showed fighters preparing anti-tank rocket warheads. In the background, a large TV screen showed recent news events to indicate the video was recent.

“Our preparation is continuing,” said writing at the end of the short film.

The Israeli military said forces operating in Shejaia had killed several Palestinian gunmen over the past day and found military infrastructure inside a United Nations school as well as dozens of weapons and “valuable intelligence documents”.

On Saturday the military announced the death of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.

In another raid in Shejaia, the forces located a “terrorist war room” at a clinic, said the military, which again accused Hamas of “embedding itself in civilian structures for terror purposes”.

Hamas denies using civilian sites such as schools and hospitals for military purposes.

The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shejaia and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.

More than eight months into Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza, operatives continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces, operating in areas that the Israeli army said it had gained control over months ago.

STALLED CEASEFIRE EFFORTS

Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have stalled. Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.

The war began when Hamas-led operatives stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has so far killed nearly 38,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has left the heavily built-up coastal enclave in ruins.

The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants but officials say most of the dead are civilians. More than 300 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza and Israel says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.

Israeli tanks pushed deeper into several districts in the east, west and centre of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, on Sunday, and medics said six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, in the heart of the city.

The six bodies from the Zurub family were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, where dozens of relatives paid their respects.

Residents said the Israeli army had torched the Al-Awda mosque in the centre of Rafah, one of the city’s best-known.

Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Cairo:

Israeli forces pounded Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday, as well as other areas across the enclave, killing at least 45 Palestinians as troops engaged in close-quarter combat with Hamas group operatives, residents and Israel’s military said.

Residents said the Israelis appeared to be trying to complete their capture of Rafah, which borders Egypt and has been the focus of an Israeli assault since early May.

Tanks were forcing their way into the western and northern parts of the city, having already captured the east, south, and centre.

Firing from planes, tanks, and ships off the coast caused more people to flee the city, which a few months ago was sheltering more than a million displaced people, most of whom have now relocated again.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 25 Palestinians had been killed in Mawasi in western Rafah and 50 wounded. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.

“Two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area,” one resident told Reuters over a chat app.

The Israeli military said that the incident was under review. “An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi,” it said.

Earlier, the military said its forces were conducting “precise, intelligence-based” actions in the Rafah area, where troops were involved in close-quarter combat and had located tunnels used by Hamas.

Over the past week, the military said, troops targeted a university that served as a Hamas headquarters from which Hamas operatives fired on soldiers and found weapons and barrel bombs. It did not name the university.

In the central Gaza area of Nusseirat, the military said soldiers killed dozens of operatives over the past week and found a weapons depot containing mortar bombs and military equipment belonging to Hamas.

Some residents said the Israeli onslaught on Rafah had intensified in the previous two days and that the sounds of explosions and gunfire had hardly stopped.

“Last night was one of the worst nights in western Rafah: Drones, planes, tanks, and naval boats bombarded the area. We feel the occupation is trying to complete the control of the city,” said Hatem, 45, reached by text message.

“They are taking heavy strikes from the resistance fighters, which may be slowing them down.”

STRIKES ON KHAN YOUNIS AND GAZA CITY

More than eight months into the war in Gaza, Israel’s advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces had yet to seize: Rafah on Gaza’s southern edge and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.

“The entire city of Rafah is an area of Israeli military operations,” Ahmed Al-Sofi, the mayor of Rafah, said in a statement carried by Hamas media on Friday.

“The city is living through a humanitarian catastrophe and people are dying inside their tents because of Israeli bombardment.”

Sofi said no medical facility was functioning in the city, and that remaining residents and displaced families lacked the minimum daily needs of food and water.

Palestinian and U.N. figures show that fewer than 100,000 people may have remained in the far western side of the city, which had been sheltering more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people before the Israeli assault began in early May.

In nearby Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike on Friday killed three people, including a father and son, medics said.

In parallel, Israeli forces continued a new pushback into some Gaza City suburbs in the north of the enclave, where they fought with Hamas-led operatives.

On Friday, an Israeli air strike on a Gaza City municipal facility killed five people, including four municipal workers, the territory’s Civil Emergency Service said. Rescue teams were searching the rubble for more missing victims.

In the nearby Beach camp, an Israeli air strike on a house killed at least seven people, medics said.

Palestinian health officials said at least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its Gaza office was damaged when heavy-calibre projectiles landed nearby, in an area where hundreds of displaced Palestinians are living in tents.

“This grave security incident is one of several in recent days; previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structures,” the organization said in a post on X on Friday. “We decry these incidents that put the lives of humanitarians and civilians at risk.”

Israel’s ground and air campaign was triggered when Hamas-led operatives barged into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The offensive has left Gaza in ruins, killed more than 37,400 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left nearly the entire population homeless and destitute.

The United Nations said on Friday it is Israel’s responsibility – as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip – to restore public order and safety in the Palestinian territory so humanitarian aid can be delivered, amid warnings of imminent famine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

We return to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza- now nearly 250 days of it- in retaliation for the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas- the latest civilian casualties, after Israel Defence Forces launched strikes on a refugee tent city in Rafah, an area designated a safe zone by Israel itself- killing about 45, many burnt to death while asleep and injuring 200.

– The death toll now from 7 months of Israeli operations- more than 36,000, including civilians, UN workers and journalists.

– Israel that lost 1200 civilians in the Hamas attacks, still awaits the return of about 125 hostages.

– Starvation also stalks Palestinians with Israel blocking food and humanitarian supply routes- a UN survey found that 85 per cent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before its survey was conducted.

Global Response to Rafah:

1. Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the Rafah strike a tragic mistake, even as IDF claimed the camp had a weapons dump that caused the deaths. His NSA said the war would continue at least another 7 months- until end 2024

 2. The latest civilian killings even prompted the US to issue a strong statement, but said no “red lines” had been crossed by Israel yet

3. The strike came even as the ICC prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against Israel PM Netanyahu, Defence Minister Gallant and Hamas Leaders for war crimes- once those are issued, it will become difficult for them to travel to other countries who are signatories- as it has been for Russian President Putin

4. Meanwhile the ICJ- that continues to deliberate on South Africa’s petition on terming Israel’s war as a genocide, issued a special order on Rafah- ordering Israel to stop its operations in the southernmost area of Gaza in Rafah, its last refuge for Palestinians

The Hindu in focus Podcast this week has more

5. Ireland, Norway and Spain joined 140 countries worldwide that have already recognised the state of Palestine, saying this was part of a symbolic push on Israel for the 2-state solution.

6. Spain has also announced it will deny port facilities to any ship carrying weapons for Israel, and stopped a shipment from Chennai carrying explosive material

7. While UN members keep urging the UN Security Council to reconsider the appeal for full membership status for Palestine, the UNSC has a new proposal by Algeria calling for Israel to stop it offensive on Rafah. A UNSC hearing saw a particularly fierce debate between the Israeli and Palestinian Ambassadors

All this happened in the past week- what’s India’s position?

1. The MEA called the Rafah strike killings, heartbreaking:

Randhir Jaiswal: “The heartbreaking loss of civilian lives in the displacement camp in Rafah is a matter of deep concern for us. We have consistently called for protection of civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict..”

2. India is not a signatory, so will not be bound by the warrants, if issued

3. However, India does adhere to the ICJ, and an Indian judge was amongst those presiding on the ruling- it is also clear that South Africa has gained much standing in the global south over its tough position at ICJ, and India will watch that keenly

4. The MEA also pointed out that India was among the first countries to recognise Palestine – way back in 1988. India hosts and supports the Palestinian embassy in Delhi

5. India will watch all peace moves closely- especially the Chinese one, given China’s role in the Saudi-Iran rapprochement last year. PM Modi even declared this week that he had sent his envoy, believed to be NSA Ajit Doval who met with PM Netanyahu to urge him not to bomb Gaza during the month of Ramzaan. Given that Israel continued its bombing, it remains to be seen whether the newly elected PM post elections will take a more engaged role.

6. Grand connectivity projects I2U2 and IMEEC have been forced into an indefinite pause, trade costs through the Red sea and Persian gulf have skyrocketed, and US plans to extend the Abraham Accord have floundered

WV Take: Despite the backing of the US, Israel is fighting a losing global battle of perception – and the losses mount with each passing day of civilian casualties. In that sense, Rafah is not just the final front for Palestinian refugees fleeing the bombardment, it could be Israel’s last chance to turn the tide, accept a ceasefire, negotiate a hostage release and end the suffering of civilians. India must play its role, if at all, to that end.

WV Reading Recommendations: I’ve already recommended a number of books in recent episodes. So as not duplicate, here are some books expected in the next few months:

1. The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe by Gideon Levy

2. The Gates of Gaza: Critical Voices from Israel on October 7 and the War with Hamas (De Gruyter Disruptions Book 4) Kindle Edition by Lihi Ben Shitrit

3. The Abraham Accords: The Gulf States, Israel, and the Limits of Normalization by Elham Fakhro

4. Spies Among The Sands: Assessing Seven Decades of the Mossad and Israeli National Security by Prem Mahadevan

5. From Beirut to Jerusalem (With a New Preface) Paperback – October 1, 2024 by Thomas L. Friedman

6. HAMAS: The Quest for Power 1st Edition by Beverley Milton-Edwards (Author), Stephen Farrell

Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar

Production: Gayatri Menon and Shibu Narayan

The International Court of Justice, on May 24, ruled that Israel must immediately stop its military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, where over 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them displaced people, were camping. Two days later, Israel carried out devastating air strikes on Rafah, targeting tent camps of the displaced in areas that were designated as humanitarian corridors, killing at least 45 Palestinians, half of them children, women and older people, creating a global. Outrage.

Hello everyone, this is Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor

The Gaza war is in its eighth month. In January, while hearing a genocide case against Israel that was filed by South Africa, the ICJ, the United Nation’s top court, had asked Tel Aviv to take necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. It was a momentous ruling, as The Hindu’s Editorial noted on January 29. But the ruling did not have any effect on the way the Jewish state is conducting the war.

On March 25, the UN Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. But Israel not just continued the war defying the UNSC resolution, but expanded it in May by invading Rafah, displacing the displaced again. 

The ICJ, which refused to order a ceasefire in January, came to the conclusion this month that the Rafah offensive could lead to a complete or partial destruction of the Palestinian population in the city. The court also asked Israel to keep the Rafah crossing with Egypt open for aid delivery and allow UN investigators to gather evidence about alleged war crimes, besides demanding an immediate release of all hostages.

The ICJ ruling came days after the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, claimed that Israeli and Hamas leaders had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, He has sought arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.

None of these developments seem have to deterred Israel. If so, the May 26 Rafah massacre would not have taken place. The ICJ rulings are legally binding, but the world court lacks the mechanisms to implement them. In the 24 hours since the ICJ issued its ruling, Israeli air strikes killed at least 190 civilians across the Gaza Strip, pushing the overall toll since the war began to 36,000. Roughly 80,000 Palestinians have been wounded. Almost all of Gaza’s population has been displaced. The enclave doesn’t enough food, medicines, shelter or medical facilities. And the hungry, sick, displaced and wounded Palestinians, who live in tent camps and UN shelters, continue to be bombed by the Israeli Defence Forces.

Is this way of fighting helping Israel meet its objectives? 

More than seven months after the war began, which was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 cross border attack on Israel in which at least 1,200 people were killed, Tel Aviv seems to be fighting in the dark. When it launched the war, Mr. Netanyahu said he would crush Hamas and release hostages. True, Israel possesses enormous fire power to inflict damage on Gaza and kill Palestinians sleeping inside their tent camps.

But has Israel defeated Hamas? 

Today, Israel is fighting Hamas even in northern and central parts of Gaza where it had earlier declared victory. That Hamas launched rockets into Tel Aviv over the weekend even after seven months of fighting in a besieged enclave raises serious questions about the way the war is being fought. At least 120 hostages, most of them feared dead, are still in Hamas’s captivity.

The war is marked not just by the incompetence of the Israeli Defence Forces but also its cruelty. Its disproportionate use of force on Gaza has turned the strip into a graveyard, as the UN termed it. The world cannot ignore the Palestine question any more and move on, having witnessed this calamity in Gaza and West Bank. Last week’s decision by Norway, Ireland and Spain to recognise the state of Palestine shows how the line of thinking is changing even in the West.

The May 26 Rafah massacre has triggered sharp responses from world leaders, even from Israel’s allies. French President Emmanuel Macron was “outraged” by the attack. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the “barbaric” attack and vowed to hold Israel accountable. The U.S., Israel’s strongest ally, did not condemn the attack, but asked Israel to do everything to protect civilian lives.    

Mr. Netanyahu appears to be irrationally adamant today. His only focus is on a war that has done little to bolster Israel’s security. Israel has not met its military objectives; its deterrence has been broken twice — first by Hamas and then by Iran ; peace with Arabs stands shattered (Saudi Arabia today says “it is absolutely necessary that Israel accepts that it cannot exist without the existence of a Palestinian State”; it stands isolated in the world, there could be an arrest warrant against Ms netanyahu and Gollant in the coming days; and there IS a ruling by the ICJ against the way it is conducting the war.

As The Hindu noted in an editorial on May 27, by seeking to punish the entire Palestinian population in Gaza for what Hamas did on October 7, Mr. Netanyahu is rendering Israel’s global standing weaker.

Presentation & Script: Stanly Johny

Production : Gayatri Menon

Video: Thamodharan B

Displaced Palestinians inspect their tents destroyed by Israel’s bombardment, adjunct to an UNRWA facility west of Rafah city, Gaza Strip, on May 28, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli strikes on Rafah have killed at least 16 Palestinians, first responders said May 28, as residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city.

An Israeli incursion launched in early May has caused nearly 1 million to flee from Rafah, most of whom have already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas, and who are now seeking refuge in squalid tent camps and war-ravaged areas.

The United States and other close allies of Israel have warned against a full-fledged offensive in the city, with the Biden administration saying it would cross a red line and refusing to provide offensive arms for such an undertaking. On May 24, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to halt its Rafah offensive, an order it has no power to enforce.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead, saying Israeli forces must go into Rafah in order to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in the October 7 attack that triggered the war.

The latest strikes occurred in the same area where Israel targeted what it said was a Hamas compound on May 26 night. That strike ignited a fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians and killed at least 45 people, according to local health officials, sparking worldwide outrage.

Mr. Netanyahu said there was a “tragic mishap” on May 26 and the military said it was investigating.

Strikes overnight killed a total of 16 people in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in northwest Rafah, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in western parts of Rafah as well.

“It was a night of horror,” said Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a Palestinian from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Tel al-Sultan since December. He said he heard “constant sounds” of explosions overnight and into May 28 morning, with fighter jets and drones flying over the area.

He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of of his neighbourhood of Shijaiyah in Gaza City, where Israel launched a heavy bombing campaign before sending in ground forces in late 2023. “We saw this before,” he said.

Sayed al-Masri, a Rafah resident, said many families have been forced to flee their homes and shelters, with most heading for the crowded Mawasi area, where giant tent camps have been set up on a barren coastline, or to Khan Younis, a southern city that suffered heavy damage during months of fighting.

“The situation is worsening” in Rafah, al-Masri said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said two medical facilities in Tel al-Sultan have been taken out of service because of intense bombing nearby. Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity operating throughout the territory, said the Tel al-Sultan medical centre and the Indonesian Field Hospital were under lockdown, with medics, patients and displaced people trapped inside.

Most of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer functioning. The Kuwait Hospital in Rafah shut down on May 27 after a strike near its entrance killed two health workers.

The war began when Hamas and other militants burst into southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 civilians and abducting around 250. More than 100 were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel responded to the October 7 attack with a massive air, land and sea offensive that has killed over 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced and United Nations officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

The story so far: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on May 24 ordered Israel to halt its military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in a ruling that can further the country’s international isolation and escalate demands for a ceasefire more than seven months into the war triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack. This is the third time that the United Nation’s top court has issued preliminary orders to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

However, in the absence of direct enforcement mechanisms, the Court’s decisions are often defied despite being legally binding. A day after the ruling, Israeli air strikes ravaged Rafah — an indication that the country remains unwilling to change its course.

Friday’s ruling was delivered in a case instituted by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide and citing “immense risk” to the Palestinian population. Its latest request pointed out that the Hague-based Court’s January 26 provisional measures were not sufficient to address “a brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza.” In another significant intervention in the conflict, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on May 20 announced his decision to apply for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the outfit, for the alleged commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

‘Change in the situation’

Similar to interim injunctions issued by national courts, provisional measures issued by the ICJ seek to freeze combat operations to preserve the integrity of a future final judgment. Before the passage of such an interim order, the Court must be satisfied that it has prima facie jurisdiction, that there is a “plausible” link between the rights asserted by South Africa and the measures it requests and a risk of irreparable harm and urgency.

As per Article 76 of the Rules of Court (1978), the Court has the power to “revoke or modify” any decision concerning provisional measures if it finds that “some change in the situation” has taken place. In a ruling supported by a majority of 13-2 judges, the ICJ said that the humanitarian situation in Rafah is now “disastrous” — meaning the Court’s previously issued provisional measures were insufficient.

It thus acknowledged that the “repeated large-scale displacement of the already extremely vulnerable Palestinian population” constitutes “a change in the situation” within the meaning of the Court’s rules.

The ICJ relied upon a host of UN reports to underscore the “immense risks” associated with Israel’s continuous military strikes in Rafah. For instance, it noted that on May 6, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had indicated that half of the approximately 1.2 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah were children and that Israel’s hostilities could result in the destruction of “the few remaining basic services and infrastructure.” It was further pointed out that the al-Najjar Hospital, one of the last remaining medical facilities in the Rafah Governorate, was no longer functional, and that the World Food Programme (WFP) had been unable to access its warehouse in the region leading to a disastrous hunger crisis.

Concerns not ‘sufficiently dispelled’

Perusing the evidence on record, UN’s top court observed that Israel had failed to undertake sufficient measures to adequately evacuate and protect from violence thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly in Rafah. It also highlighted the inability of Tel Aviv to provide “sufficient information” on the steps taken to supply humanitarian aid in the form of water, sanitation, food and medicine to the 800,000 evacuated Palestinians.

Crucially, the Court found Israel’s assurances unconvincing, writing that it has not “sufficiently addressed and dispelled the concerns raised by its military offensive in Rafah.”

Provisional measures

At the outset, the Court outlined that the prior provisional measures indicated in its orders of January 26, 2024, and March 28, 2024, “must be immediately and effectively implemented.”

It then proceeded to rule that Tel Aviv, in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, must “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.”

Israel was further asked to keep the Rafah crossing with Egypt open for the “unhindered” delivery of humanitarian assistance and allow UN investigators to access the Gaza Strip to collect evidence about the alleged war crimes.

Although no interim order was issued, the judges reiterated that they were deeply concerned about the fate of the hostages abducted during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, and accordingly called for their immediate and unconditional release.

In conclusion, the ICJ directed Israel to submit a report detailing its steps to ensure compliance with its directives within one month of the ruling. South Africa will consequently have a chance to respond to this report. However, despite South Africa’s fervent pleas, the Court has once again refused to issue any interim order calling for a ceasefire.

Implications

Since the ICJ lacks any direct enforcement mechanisms, the only way for the interim order to be implemented is if the UN Security Council shows willingness to act on it. But the United States, Israel’s strongest ally, has repeatedly used its veto powers to shield Tel Aviv from demands for a ceasefire. However, on March 25, it abstained from voting on a similar UN resolution, signalling a change in the Biden administration’s policy towards the war.

The U.S. has long maintained that Israel’s military operations in Rafah are “limited” and that it would not support any major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians. However, given that both the top international courts have raised concerns about Israel’s operations, Washington’s stance on upholding international law appears inconsistent when it comes to defending its allies.

Israeli officials have interpreted Friday’s ruling as a “limited order” that instructs it to abide by the Genocide Convention during its activities in Rafah, but does not require a complete halt to military operations there. “The order in regard to the Rafah operation is not a general order,” an official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, highlighting that the phrasing of the ICJ ruling does not rule out all military action.

However, Tel Aviv’s continued defiance seems to be increasingly turning international public opinion against it. Last week, Norway, Ireland and Spain announced that they would unilaterally recognise a Palestine state.

Adil Ahmad Haque, law professor and Judge Jon O. Newman scholar at Rutgers Law School agreed that the Court’s order is “somewhat ambiguous”. He wrote that a plausible interpretation of the ruling could mean that Israel must immediately halt its military operations in Rafah to the extent that it may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza “conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. However, Mr. Haque maintained that the present offensive, as currently planned and executed, is prohibited under any reading of the order.

Israeli air strikes and artillery pounded Rafah on Saturday, despite the UN’s top court ordering an immediate halt to its military offensive in the southern Gazan city.

At the same time, renewed efforts were underway in Paris aimed at securing a ceasefire in the war sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.

In a case brought by South Africa alleging the Israeli military operation amounts to “genocide”, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive and demanded the immediate release of hostages still held by Palestinian militants.

The Hague-based ICJ, whose orders are legally binding but lack direct enforcement mechanisms, also instructed Israel to keep open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which Israel closed earlier this month.

Israel gave no indication it was preparing to change course in Rafah, insisting the court had got it wrong.

“Israel has not and will not carry out military operations in the Rafah area that create living conditions that could cause the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population, in whole or in part,” National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a joint statement with Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman.

Hamas, the Iran-backed Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, welcomed the ICJ ruling on Rafah but criticised its decision to exclude the rest of the Palestinian territory from the order.

‘Nothing left here’

In spite of the ICJ ruling, Israel carried out strikes throughout the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning as fighting raged between the Army and Hamas’s armed wing.

Palestinian witnesses reported Israeli strikes or shelling in Rafah, the central city of Deir al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabalia refugee camp and elsewhere.

“We hope that the court’s decision will put pressure on Israel to end this war of extermination because there is nothing left here,” said Umm Mohammad Al-Ashqa, a Palestinian woman from Gaza City displaced to Deir al-Balah by the war.

Mohammed Saleh said from the central Gazan city that “Israel is a state that considers itself above the law. Therefore, I do not believe that the shooting or the war will stop other than by force.”

Yahya, a 34-year-old in Gaza who did not give his second name for security reasons, said: “Perhaps these decisions… that Israel has not complied with, will make the Western world move more strongly (in favour) of our cause at popular and political levels, supporting the recognition of the state of Palestine and strengthening our rights”.

The ICJ ruling came days after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would formally recognise a Palestinian state and the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leaders on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In its ruling, the ICJ said Israel must “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”.

The UN court ordered Israel to allow UN-mandated investigators “unimpeded access” to Gaza to look into the genocide allegations.

It also instructed Israel to open the Rafah crossing for the “unhindered provision at scale” of humanitarian aid and also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Paris meetings

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the Army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,857 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

On the diplomatic front, efforts have resumed to seek the first ceasefire in Gaza since a week-long truce and hostage release in November.

CIA chief Bill Burns was expected to meet Israeli representatives in Paris in a bid to relaunch negotiations, a Western source close to the issue said.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken also spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the Rafah border crossing, Washington said.

‘End this nightmare’

Israel sent tanks and troops into Rafah in early May, defying global opposition. It has since ordered mass evacuations from Rafah, with the UN saying more than 800,000 people have fled.

Troops took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, further slowing sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza’s 2.4 million people.

Italy on Saturday became the latest donor nation to restore funding for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, having suspended it in the wake of Israeli allegations that some of its employees were involved with the October 7 attack.

Rome said it would give 35 million euros to UNRWA, joining Germany, Sweden, Canada, Japan and others in resuming donations.

The security and humanitarian situation in the territory remains alarming, with a risk of famine and most hospitals no longer functioning.

The Kuwait Speciality Hospital in Rafah pleaded for fuel deliveries on Saturday “to ensure its continued operation”, saying it was the only one in Rafah governorate still receiving patients.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on social media site X on Friday that the situation had reached “a moment of clarity”.

“At a time when the people of Gaza are staring down famine… it is more critical than ever to heed the calls made over the last seven months: Release the hostages. Agree a ceasefire. End this nightmare.”

South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela uses a phone at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), during a ruling on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s Rafah offensive in Gaza as part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands May 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The top United Nations court on May 24 ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah, a landmark ruling likely to increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza war.

Israel must “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,” the International Court of Justice said.

Rafah, Palestinian Territories:

An Israeli strike killed 31 people in central Gaza Sunday, the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said, as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited for talks on the conflict.

Israeli troops have moved in on the Gaza Strip’s far-southern city of Rafah, which the army describes as the last Hamas stronghold and where the United States says 800,000 civilians have been newly displaced by the fighting.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was targeting Israeli forces stationed at Rafah crossing — a vital conduit for humanitarian aid that is now closed — with mortar fire.

Israel has also fought and bombed resurgent Hamas forces in northern and central areas of the coastal territory previously considered to be under army control, sparking US warnings that it could become mired in a lengthy counterinsurgency campaign.

In the latest aerial bombardment overnight, Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike had killed 31 people and wounded 20 in a home in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel’s military, which on Sunday reported its aircraft had “struck dozens of terror targets” over the past 24 hours, said it was checking the reports.

Witness Yasser Abu Oula told AFP an entire residential complex “was destroyed” and “there are still bodies under the rubble”.

Jake Sullivan meets Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting Hamas in Gaza, following its October 7 attack that sparked the war, until the Iran-backed Islamist group is defeated and all remaining hostages are released.

But he has faced intense opposition and calls to announce a plan for Gaza’s post-war governance — from top ally Washington, from mass street protests and now also from members of his war cabinet.

Amid the political turmoil, Sullivan met his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi and Netanyahu in Jerusalem for talks on the brutal Gaza conflict and post-war scenarios.

He briefed Netanyahu on the “potential” of a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia after holding talks in the region, the White House said Sunday.

Sullivan also called on the Israeli prime minister to link the military operation against Hamas in Gaza with a “political strategy” for the future of the Palestinian enclave, it added.

Washington has pushed for a post-war plan for Gaza involving Palestinians and supported by regional powers, as well as for a broader diplomatic deal under which Israel and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia would normalise relations.

Israel’s Centrist politician Benny Gantz threatened Saturday to quit the governing hard-right coalition over just this issue. He has called for Netanyahu to approve a post-war “action plan” by June 8.

Gantz demanded steps to defeat Hamas, to bring home the hostages, and towards forming an “American, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip”.

Netanyahu has dismissed Gantz’s comments, saying they would lead to “a defeat for Israel” and “the establishment of a Palestinian state”, which he fiercely opposes.

‘Day after’ scenarios

US President Joe Biden called Sunday for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and said he was pushing for a regional peace deal “to get a two-state solution, the only solution”.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took about 250 hostages during the October 7 attack, of whom 124 remain held in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,456 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

In central Israel on Sunday, mourners gathered for the funeral of German-Israeli Shani Louk, 22, whose body was recovered Thursday from Gaza by troops who also took back three other dead hostages.

‘Almost’ no aid

Israel has imposed a siege on the long-blockaded Gaza Strip, depriving its 2.4 million people of normal access to clean water, food, medicines and fuel, the suffering eased only by sporadic aid shipments by land, air and sea.

The head of the UN agency helping Palestinians said that “despite all the calls by the international community not to launch an offensive in Rafah, in reality an offensive started on May 6”.

Since then, “we have again about half of the population of Gaza being on the road forced to flee” for safety once more, though “we keep saying there is absolutely nowhere to go,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Amman.

Lazzarini said that because of the fighting, “almost nothing in terms of aid is crossing” into Gaza, raising fears that recent gains made “to prevent a looming famine … might quickly be reversed”.

Truck arrivals have slowed after the Rafah crossing with Egypt closed when Israel launched its operation in the city.

After a series of attacks on Gaza-bound trucks in Israel, a group of Israeli activists on Sunday travelled with an aid convoy to protect it, an AFP correspondent said.

Aid has also begun entering via a temporary US-built floating pier, where shipments sent from Cyprus are offloaded for distribution.

The United Arab Emirates said Sunday a shipment of 252 tonnes of aid had been unloaded after arriving from the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

The UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned that if dire fuel shortages were not alleviated, the “famine which we have talked about for so long, and which is looming, will not be looming anymore. It will be present”.

“Our worry … is that the consequence is going to be really, really hard,” he told AFP in Qatar. “Hard, difficult, and apocalyptic.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The pre-war population of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza strip sharing a border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, was 1,70,000. Today, seven months after Israel launched its war on Gaza, as many as 1.5 million people are living in Rafah. Many of them are camped on the streets and beaches, while others are cramped into filthy, overcrowded makeshift shelters.

Rafah is now a “gigantic refugee camp”, says the Norwegian Refugee Council. According to a doctor who served in Rafah, the city is a “closed jail”. Medics are struggling to supply even basic aid and prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases. According to Action Aid, every single person in Gaza “is now hungry and people have just 1.5 to 2 litres of unsafe water per day to meet all their needs”. A majority of Gaza’s population is now jammed in Rafah. It is in this Rafah, Israel is carrying out its latest offensive.

Rafah has always been a flashpoint in the Israel-Palestine conflict, given its territorial proximity to Egypt. After the 1948 Arab-Israel war, Rafah came under Egyptian rule along with other parts of the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of Palestinians who were displaced from their homes when Israel was created were settled in Gaza.

During the Suez Crisis, Rafah came under attack when the Israeli troops were marching towards Sinai through Gaza. On November 12, 1956, the IDF raided a refugee camp in Rafah, killing at least 111 Palestinians, which came to be known as the Rafah massacre.

After the Six-Day War of 1967, the entire Gaza, including Rafah, came under Israel’s direct military occupation. Israel would retain its direct control over the enclave until 2005.

After the latest war began on October 7, 2023, Israel ordered over 1 million Palestinians living in the northern Gaza to evacuate. Most of them fled their homes and moved to southern cities such as Khan Younis and Rafah. When Khan Younis was attacked, there was another flight of refugees towards the south. Today, the lion’s share of Rafah’s population are internally displaced Palestinians.

Before Israel launched the Rafah offensive, there were dramatic developments. The U.S. had warned Israel against launching a full-scale invasion of Rafah, arguing that such an attack would kill more Palestinian civilians. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel would go ahead with the plan to invade Rafah, defying international pressure, warnings and pleas. But Mr. Netanyahu is also under pressure to bring the remaining hostages back. Israel says 128 hostages abducted on October 7 are still in Hamas’s captivity, though many of them are feared dead. There are growing protests in Israel, asking the government to strike a deal with Hamas to bring the hostages back. Israel and Hamas, helped by mediators such as the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, had held multiple rounds of talks in Cairo for a ceasefire deal.

While the fine details of the ceasefire proposal were not made public yet, reports in Egyptian and Saudi media suggested that the mediators had proposed a three-phase deal that would see the release of all hostages and Palestinian prisoners and eventually bring the war to an end. In the first phase, Israel was expected to cease fire for 40 days and free Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of 33 hostages.

In the second phase, the ceasefire would be extended by 42 more days, while all the remaining living hostages would be released.

The third phase proposals were the most contentious. Israel wanted Hamas to release the bodies of all hostages and Hamas wanted a comprehensive, lasting ceasefire and full withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel says no to both Hamas demands. Israeli troops have been deployed in northern and central Gaza, effectively carving the northern tip of the strip as a buffer zone between Israel proper and Gaza’s population. If the Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza, Israeli officials say, Palestinians as well as Hamas militants would return to the areas close to the Israeli border. And if Israel agrees to a lasting ceasefire, the remaining Hamas battalions would survive.

When Israel launched the war on October 7, it made its twin objectives public: dismantle Hamas and release the hostages. Seven months after the war, in which roughly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, Israel has not met either of the objectives. One practical solution to the hostage crisis is to strike a deal with Hamas. But Hamas would release the hostages only in return for a ceasefire. And if Israel agrees for a ceasefire, Hamas would survive. This is the dilemma Mr. Netanyahu is facing.

Earlier, Biden administration officials had said Hamas was the major stumbling block for a ceasefire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on May 4 that “the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas”. But on May 6, Hamas’s Doha-based leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group accepted the ceasefire proposal suggested by the mediators in Cairo. The Hamas announcement came hours after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered at least 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah. Mr. Netanyahu’s government immediately rejected the Hamas offer, saying it did not meet Israel’s core demands. The Prime Minister later said Israel would never agree to end the war in Gaza as part of a deal with Hamas.

Mr. Netanyahu’s tough line on Rafah has created tensions in Israel’s ties with the U.S. Earlier President Biden had said a full-scale attack on Rafah without a proper plan to protect civilians would be a redline for him. The United Nations has repeatedly warned that any attack on the overcrowded Rafah would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. If he abandons the plan to attack Rafah and cuts a deal with Hamas for hostages, Netanyahu’s government could fall as his far-right allies such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have already warned against such a move. If he goes ahead with the plan to invade Rafah, more Palestinian civilians would be killed, Israel would further be isolated globally and tensions would rise in ties with the U.S. But Mr. Netanyahu doesn’t seem to bother.

“If Israel has to stand alone, it will stand alone,” he said on May 10, less than a month after American, British, French and Jordanian defence systems, along with the IDF, shot down most of the drones and cruise and ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards Israel.

Read more: Rafah | Opening the gates of hell

Read more: Israel’s ‘limited’ military operation in Rafah | Explained

Script and presentation: Stanly Johny

Video: Thamodharan B.

Production: Ravichandran N.