TRANSCRIPT
In a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide, International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to stop its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The top United Nations court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid, saying it must provide access to the besieged enclave for investigators, and report back on its progress within one month.
Reading out the ruling, the presiding judge of the court, Nawaf Salam, says the situation in the enclave has worsened since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it.
"The court considers that, in conformity with the obligations under the Genocide Convention, 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 order was adopted by the panel of 15 judges from around the world in a 13 to 2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and Israel.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has rejected the claims of genocide in Gaza as false, outrageous and morally repugnant.
Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour says he welcomes the provisional measures, calling for Israel to abide by the court's orders.
"We, expect that resolutions of the ICJ to be implemented without hesitation. That's mandatory. And Israel, as I said, party to the convention. And the convention is crystal clear on this issue. So Israel has to abide by the decisions and the demands from the ICJ."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep (yo-sep) Borrell, says the E-U has to choose between respecting the bloc's support for international institutions, or its support for Israel.
"Let's see which is going to be the answer of the European Union to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that has been issued today. Which is going to be our position? We will have to choose between our support of international institutions and the rule of law, or our support to Israel. And both things are going to be quite difficult to make compatible."
While the International Court of Justice does not have the power to enforce its orders, legal experts say the ruling is a significant development in South Africa's case against Israel.
The former executive director of Human Rights Watch, Professor Kenneth Roth, says the court found the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention are plausibly in jeopardy.
"Up until now, its response to South Africa's genocide case against Israel had been basically in broad, generic terms, to tell Israel, be more careful when you're bombing so you don't hit civilians, let more food in so there's not starvation. And that clearly wasn't working. And South Africa came in with an emergency application and said there are 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah. These people are all in danger of, effectively, genocide."
York University Assistant Professor of Law, Heidi Matthews, says it is still unclear what will happen next after the ruling.
“The court itself doesn't have any enforcement powers, so it's the highest judicial body of the United Nations, but it doesn't have, you know, its own police or military force that would perform that kind of enforcement. What it does have pursuant to the UN charter is resort to the security Council. Clearly, the big problem with that is the U.S. veto on the Security Council.”
Hamas official Basem Naim says the ruling is not enough.
In Deir Al Balah, in the Central Gaza Strip, Palestinian civilian Nadia Al Debis say she wants to see more than a halt in military assault in Rafah.
Arabic, then translated: "We, as displaced people, have been suffering that only God knows about since eight months. We demand a trial by the U.N. court, because it is not only the people of Rafah who are suffering. We, the people of the north, have been disgraced and humiliated. We demand a review of this decision, and consideration of the request for a ceasefire in all areas of the Strip. Gaza, Rafah is not the only one affected."
In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, there are diverse reactions from people.
"I think the court in The Hague spent a lot of time trying to get to this decision and to make this decision and I think it's very clear that currently Israel is not governed by government that is capable of making any important decisions, and they are doing a lot of things out of personal interests and not for the greater good. So I think it might be a good time to ceasefire, return the hostages, let Gaza rest, stop the violence.
"Not really connected to the reality . We need to go into Rafah, we need a sort of solve these issues, we need to get Hamas out of there. And you know, just calling for one-sided ceasefire is not going to give any hope for a long-term solution. Hopefully we can achieve one at some point but I don't think that's possible in the current situation."
