Palestine Welcomes ICJ Order For Israel To 'Immediately' Halt Its Rafah Offensive

The Palestinian presidency on Friday welcomed the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to "immediately" halt its military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

"The Presidency welcomes the ICJ ruling to halt aggression on Rafah, and urges to completely stop the Israeli aggression on our people," said a statement cited by the official Palestine TV.

Earlier, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza Strip where it sent forces in early May.

"Israel must immediately hold its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said ICJ President Nawaf Salam.

The ICJ said modification in its March 28 order, which ordered "unhindered provision" of aid to Gaza, was in view of change in circumstances due to the offensive on Rafah, where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge from the war that started in October.

According to UN agencies, more than 800,000 have since fled the city due to the ground invasion.

Besides, the ICJ ordered maintaining the Rafah border crossing open "for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance."

It called on Israel to "ensure access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide."

It also ordered Tel Aviv to submit a report on the measures taken on the latest order within a month.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​ -