The International Court of Justice in The Hague on Thursday opened two days of hearings into a request from South Africa to press Israel to stop its military operation in Rafah.
South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah, to take measures to ensure unimpeded access for UN officials, humanitarian organizations, and journalists to the Gaza Strip, and to report back within one week on how it is meeting these demands.
This is the fourth time that South Africa has asked the ICJ to pass emergency measures since the nation launched proceedings alleging that Israel’s military action in its war with Hamas in Gaza amounts to genocide.
According to the current request, the previous preliminary orders by the court were not sufficient to address “a brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza.”