(24 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Hague – 24 May 2024
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Corder, AP Correspondent:
“The top United Nations court has today ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but it stopped short of calling for a full ceasefire across the beleaguered enclave."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Corder, AP Correspondent:
"Israel seems unlikely to comply with this order from the International Court of Justice, but it will increase pressure internationally on the increasingly isolated country."
++BLACK FRAMES++
"The court today has also ordered Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing."
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Corder, AP Correspondent:
"It remains to be seen just how much effect this order will have. The court here in The Hague does not have police to enforce its orders."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Corder, AP Correspondent:
"Friday’s decision comes at a preliminary stage of a case launched by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in its Gaza conflict that was unleashed after the October 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.”
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STORYLINE:
The top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave.
Although Israel is unlikely to comply with the order, it will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country.
Criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing, particularly once it turned its focus to Rafah.
While the ruling by the International Court of Justice is a blow to Israel’s international standing, the court does not have a police force to enforce its orders.
In another case on its docket, Russia has so far ignored a 2022 order by the court to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier, Israel signaled it, too, would brush off an ICJ order to stop its operations.
Immediately after the ruling, Netanyahu announced that he would hold a special ministerial meeting to decide how to respond.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition, derided the decision.
The court’s president, Nawaf Salam, read out the ruling, as a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside.
Fears the court expressed earlier this year about an operation in Rafah have “materialized,” the ruling said, and Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive” in the city and anything else that might result in conditions that could cause the “physical destruction in whole or in part” of Palestinians there.
Rafah is in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, and over 1 million people sought refuge there in recent months after fleeing fighting elsewhere, with many of them living in teeming tent camps.
Israel has been vowing for months to invade Rafah, saying it was Hamas’ last major stronghold, even as several allies warned an all-out assault would spell disaster.
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