The top United Nations court said that it notes the “perilous” situation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but has declined South Africa’s request for urgent measures to safeguard Palestinians being threatened by an Israeli ground assault there.
“The Court notes that the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, ‘would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,’ as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General,” the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in a statement on February 16.
South Africa said on February 19 that it had lodged an “urgent request” with the ICJ to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting Rafah breach provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case alleging genocide.
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