Israel condemns ICJ order to halt Rafah assault as pressure for ceasefire mounts

Israel's government officials have threatened widespread retaliation against the Palestinian Authority after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Tel Aviv to halt its military assault on the city of Rafah in Gaza.

In a separate move, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem would no longer assist or provide services to Palestinian nationals. This came after Spain announced its plan to recognize a Palestinian state.

The decision by judges at the ICJ - the top United Nations court - is a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.

Reading out the ruling by the International Court of Justice (or World Court), its president Nawaf Salam said the situation in the Palestinian enclave had deteriorated since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it. He said conditions had been met for a new emergency order.

"The state of Israel shall....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," Salam said.

The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid, and said it must provide access to the besieged enclave for investigators and report back on its progress within one month.

The order was adopted by the panel of 15 judges from around the world in a 13-2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and from Israel itself.

It was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa as part of a case accusing Israel of genocide.

The ICJ is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states. Its rulings are final and binding but have been ignored in the past. The court has no enforcement powers.

READ MORE

Türkiye's 'mad honey' aphrodisiac that can knock you flat

The reptilian professor helping to save her species

RAZOR: Can precision fishing save biodiversity in our oceans?

Before the ruling, an Israeli government spokesperson said: "No power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza".

The Palestinian Authority welcomed the ruling. "The presidency welcomes the decision issued by the International Court of Justice, which represents an international consensus on the demand to stop the all-out war on Gaza," Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz announced the removal of rights from Jerusalem's Spanish consulate.

"I have decided to sever the connection between the Spanish mission to Israel and the Palestinians," Katz said in a statement, "and to prohibit the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians from the West Bank."

Katz's statement came after Spanish Labor and Economy Minister Yolanda Diaz declared that "Palestine will be free from the river to the sea" in a video posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). This is a phrase the Israeli government views as antisemetic. 

Meanwhile, Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich hinted that sanctions maybe taken against the Palestinian Authority's assets and tax funds, resources under the control of Israel. 

"At the last cabinet meeting, many ministers, including myself, raised an unequivocal demand for harsh punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority for its unilateral actions against Israel, including its pursuit of unilateral recognition," Smotrich warned.

Israel continued its assault against what it claims to be the last remnants of Hamas' strongholds within the Gaza strip amid ceasefire calls from the ICJ and World Bank. 

"The rapidly widening gap between the amount of revenues coming in, and the amount needed to finance essential public expenditure, is driving a fiscal crisis," the World Bank said, warning that the economy of Palestine was "significantly raising the risk of a fiscal collapse."

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday