In spite of the ICJ ruling for it to halt its military offensive in Rafah, Israel carried out strikes across the Gaza Strip including Rafah, on Saturday, May 25, 2024.

Ten Palestinians, including children and women, were killed and several others injured on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military continued its operation in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, targeting more residential buildings and public facilities, including schools and UNRWA facilities.

The Israeli military also carried out several raids in the occupied West Bank overnight and Saturday morning, injuring two Palestinians and arresting several others.

In the city of el-Bireh, a 15-year-old child was injured by live bullets fired by Israeli troops. A young man from al-Khader in the south of Bethlehem sustained bruises after soldiers beat him near his house.

In addition, Israeli forces stormed Salem, Burqa and Bazaria in Nablus, where confrontations took place.

In Tulkarem, troops stormed the towns of Ramin and Shuweika and arrested two Palestinians.

In Qalqilya, Israeli forces with armoured vehicles deliberately damaged civilian cars during their storming of the city, and arrested four relatives of whom they claimed to be a wanted person.

Settlers from the old city of Hebron attacked homes of Palestinians in the besieged neighbourhood of Wadi al-Husayn and threw stones at Palestinian homes.

According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Israeli forces arrested 15 Palestinians in their latest series of incursions throughout the occupied West Bank.

The arrests took place in the governorates of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, and Hebron.

Calls For Israel To Obey ICJ Ruling

Israel called the ICJ binding order to immediately stop its assault on Rafah “outrageous, morally repugnant and disgusting.”

It added that accusations it is committing genocide in Gaza “are false.”

Nonetheless, calls have been made for Israel to implement the ICJ’s ruling.

In a post on X, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said, “ICJ orders are binding on the Parties and they have to be fully and effectively implemented.”

Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares demanded that Israel implement the ruling recently announced by the ICJ.

He stated that the ICJ’s “precautionary measures, including the cessation of Israel’s offensive in Rafah, are mandatory.”

“We demand its implementation. Also the ceasefire, the release of the hostages and humanitarian access. The suffering of Gazans and the violence must end.”
Jose Manuel Albares

The Elders group of world leaders also said that “no country is above the law” and Israel’s “unlawful approach” to its war on Gaza cannot continue following the ICJ’s order to halt military operations in the Rafah area.

Member of the Elders group and former UN human rights commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said that states that provide weapons to Israel now have a “particular responsibility to ensure they are not complicit in any violation of the Court’s order.”

“The ICJ has today ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah to protect Palestinians in Gaza who are facing inhumane, catastrophic conditions that threaten their lives.

“Israel has a legal obligation to implement all the ICJ’s provisional measures in full.”
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein

Moreover, Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the ICJ ruling on Israel’s war on Gaza.

It expressed full support for the announcement of new temporary measures, most importantly for the one ordering the Israeli forces to stop their military operations in Rafah.

Kuwait called on the international community to oblige Israel to comply with and respect all the measures in the ruling, working to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and allowing the flow of humanitarian aid without restrictions or condition.