Israel's offensive on Rafah city violates world court order on Gaza, says Pakistan

Strongly condemning Israel’s assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Pakistan said Monday that Tel Aviv is in violation of measures ordered by the UN’s top court last month, Anadolu Agency reports.

“It will further aggravate the humanitarian disaster witnessed in Gaza over the last 4 months and jeopardise the ongoing efforts for a potential ceasefire,” the Foreign Ministry in a statement from the capital Islamabad.

Urging the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to take “urgent measures to bring an immediate end to Israeli aggression and its incessant crimes against humanity,” Islamabad said the offensive in Rafah violates provisional measures that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered last month to protect people in Gaza from genocide.

South Africa filed a case at the ICJ in December, accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In its interim ruling in January, the UN court ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The Maldives on Monday also strongly condemned Israel’s “threats to launch a full-scale invasion” on Rafah city.

“The forced displacement and inhumane attacks against innocent Palestinians and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance by the Israeli occupation forces is against international laws and regulations and tantamount to war crimes,” the said a Foreign Ministry statement from the capital Male.

It urged the international community to “take decisive action to prevent the continuation of the genocidal acts of the Israeli forces,” and pressure Israeli authorities to abide by the provisional measures of the ICJ.

The interim Taliban administration in Afghanistan also joined the chorus against the Israeli attacks on Rafah.

“The continuation of brutality of Zionist forces on Rafah city will cause a major disaster and make the ongoing crisis spiral out,” the Foreign Ministry in Kabul said.

It also called on countries with global and regional influence, Islamic nations, and “purported” human rights bodies to “prevent the ongoing genocide in Gaza and occupied Palestine, and find ways to a fundamental solution to this case.”

It said the continued “genocide” in Gaza has “posed serious questions” to the current international order and its values, and that this “genocide of the century will further erode the flimsy credibility of international organisations and humanitarian conventions.”

More than 100 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported early on Monday.

Israeli fighter jets also targeted displaced people near the Egyptian border and the Kuwaiti Hospital, west of the city.

The Israeli army on Sunday approved a plan for a ground offensive in Rafah city.

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel has pounded the rest of the enclave since 7 October.

The ensuing Israeli bombardments have killed more than 28,000 people, mostly women and children, and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave since 7 October. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 28,340 victims and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has 85% of the territory’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

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