Reaction to ICJ court ruling on South Africa seeking emergency halt to Israel’s offensive in Rafah

In reaction to today’s order from the International Court of Justice to South Africa’s case, which demanded Israel immediately halt its offensive in Rafah, Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Middle East said:

“Oxfam welcomes the ICJ’s order as a critical intervention to stop Israel’s military onslaught on Rafah, which has displaced more than 800,000 people, and an affirmation of the right to life of the Palestinian people.

“Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed or injured 5% of the entire population – mostly women and children – and pushed the rest to the brink of famine.

“The Israeli Government must immediately comply with the Court’s ruling and halt its brutal offensive on Rafah. It must also release its stranglehold on the aid pipeline, allowing the 4,500 banked-up trucks held at Al-Arish to reach people with desperately-needed food, water, and medicine.

“All states have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure Israel complies with this order, and that the hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in Rafah are protected.

“States arming this Israeli offensive are now defying the ICJ ruling, and are complicit in any war crimes committed in Gaza. They must stop supplying weapons immediately, and instead press harder for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to prevent further bloodshed, and to ensure the safe return of all hostages and unlawfully detained Palestinians.”

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