Israel has requested the International Court of Justice to dismiss South Africa's request for additional emergency measures due to Israel's intention to expand its offensive in Gaza to the city of Rafah. In documents published by the International Court of Justice today, Thursday, Israel stated that the emergency measures issued three weeks ago already cover "the situation of hostilities in Gaza as a whole," and the court should reject South Africa's request.
Israel claims it intends to extend its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to include the city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge from Israeli bombardments that have turned large parts of the territory into rubble following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. Earlier in the week, South Africa requested the court to issue additional emergency measures to protect the rights of Palestinians in Rafah.
Last month, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent its forces from committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as part of a lawsuit filed by South Africa. Israel has denied all accusations of genocide in its war against Hamas. It is still unclear when the judges will make a decision regarding South Africa's new request or whether they will call for additional sessions to consider it.
