T. Nieva | Mikel Ayestaran
Saturday, May 25, 2024, 09:50
Israel bombed Rafah and other sectors of the Gaza Strip this Saturday despite the International Court of Justice ordering it yesterday to stop its military operations in this city at the southern tip of the Palestinian enclave.
Witnesses on the scene and AFP journalists have reported shelling by Israeli troops against this city on the border with Egypt and also against Deir al-Balah, in the center.
“The court considers that, in accordance with the obligations of the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately stop its offensive in Rafah.” This was the order issued this Friday by the judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), who also demanded that the Jewish State authorize the entry of the humanitarian aid that Gaza urgently needs and that cannot access because the army keeps it closed. the crossing with Egypt. The order went ahead with thirteen votes in favor and two against and, although it does not have a binding effect on the Hebrews, it represents a new blow to their military strategy in the Strip and a setback to their diplomatic activity.
The pressure increases on Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers, including Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Economy, who responded immediately to insist that no order will stop them because “we are at war for our existence.” The head of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, asked that the response to the judicial resolution be “the conquest of Rafah, the escalation of the military operation and the total destruction of Hamas until victory.”
The Israeli legal team defended before the court that the operation in Rafah is “limited”, as the army repeats every day, but their evidence did not convince the magistrates in The Hague. This is the second blow in a week that the Tel Aviv Executive has received, after the Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, asked the judges to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, for the death of civilians in the Strip, the obstruction to the introduction of humanitarian aid and the use of hunger as a weapon of war. In that same request, Khan calls for the arrest of the three main leaders of Hamas.
Dr. Bassem Naim offered precisely this Friday the first reaction from the Islamist coalition and indicated that Hamas “welcomes” the order to stop the operation in Rafah, although “it is not enough, since the army’s aggression in northern Gaza , it is just as brutal and dangerous,” in reference to the operation underway in Yabalia.
One more step
The Hague takes another step in the process opened by the genocide complaint presented by South Africa in December. The UN body that settles conflicts between states demands that the offensive or any other action against “the Palestinians as a group” be stopped that could “impose vital conditions that lead to their physical destruction in whole or in part”
Already ten days ago, given the serious situation generated by the military assault on Rafah, from where more than 800,000 people had to forcibly leave, South African lawyers requested concrete precautionary measures to stop operations in the southern city of Gaza and the Judges have adopted them, although they lack the means to implement them.
investigation commission
The court also orders Israel to “guarantee unimpeded access to Gaza for any commission of inquiry commissioned by competent United Nations bodies to investigate allegations of genocide.” The blockade imposed on the international press has been extended to expert missions, which are essential for judges. Israel does not want witnesses to a military operation that leaves more than 35,000 dead, according to the Ministry of Health. The Court asks the Jewish State to present a report within one month on compliance with these orders.
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