Israel anticipates ICJ injunctions to halt Gaza war

JERUSALEM

Israel expects that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will order a halt to Israel’s deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to local media on Thursday.

The Hague-based court said it will rule on Friday in South Africa’s request to halt an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli legal experts assess that there is a high probability the ICJ will issue injunctions on Friday, an Israeli diplomatic source told Israel Hayom newspaper.

He said the court could either order a cessation of Israeli military operations in Rafah or seek a halt to the Gaza war through court injunctions.

If the court ordered a halt to the Gaza war, it would be “the most severe scenario that Israel had feared since the initial Hague hearings in January,” the newspaper said.

“Such orders could significantly impede Israel's ability to continue its military mission in Gaza, though Israel has repeatedly emphasized it is not bound by the court's rulings,” it added.

Israel is worried that injunctions from the ICJ could precipitate a similar resolution by the UN Security Council, where Israel would again require a US veto to block it, the newspaper said.

“Israeli officials are bracing for that possibility in the coming days,” it added.

Israel launched a ground offensive on May 6 in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered from Tel Aviv’s war on the enclave.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that more than 800,000 people have fled the city since the start of the Israeli assault.

Israel has been continuing its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

More than 35,700 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and nearly 80,000 others injured since last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the ICJ, which has ordered it to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar