Israel’s war on Gaza updates: ICJ orders Israel to stop Rafah offensive

Thank you for joining us for real-time updates on everything related to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Read more about the World Court’s ruling on the Rafah offensive here. And for Israel’s angry response, check this out.

For more news, analysis and opinion on the conflict, click here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of the latest news:

• Judges at the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah citing the “immense risk” to the Palestinian population.
• Israel calls the World Court’s order “outrageous, morally repugnant, and disgusting” and promises to continue the assault.
• Governments of 27 countries publish a statement criticising the shutdown of Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel.
• The Israeli military says the bodies of three captives were recovered during a mission in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
• Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have now killed 35,857 Palestinians with 80,293 wounded, Health Ministry data shows, the vast majority children and women.

Palestinians in Gaza are increasingly relying on donkey carts for transportation because of the severe shortage of fuel caused by the ongoing conflict. Also desperately needed are food, drinking water and medical supplies.

Watch the video below:

The humanitarian group says the ICJ ceasefire order adds “much-needed pressure” on Israel to protect Palestinians sheltering in Rafah and “fleeing to unlivable areas”.

“The Rafah incursion has brought the devastating humanitarian fallout we predicted and feared,” said Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Mercy Corps’s vice president of global policy and advocacy.

“Regardless of its incremental nature, it has caused nearly 900,000 people – who are weak and have no remaining coping strategies – to flee to areas of middle Gaza where there is no infrastructure, severe crowding, unexploded ordnance and almost no access to aid.

“What’s worse is that this military action has caused the closure of Rafah and the functional closure of Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings, the two lifelines of the humanitarian response,” Phillips-Barrasso added.

US citizen and former Columbia law school professor Sarah Cleveland was among the 13 judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who ordered the immediate halt of Israel’s offensive in Rafah.

Her position underscores the unique predicament of the Biden administration in the wake of the decision. Unlike at the International Criminal Court (ICC), from which the US has kept an arm’s distance, Washington has been far more supportive of the ICJ.

While Cleveland campaigned independently for the post in 2023, US top diplomat Antony Blinken praised her election to the court. “The United States values the critical work of the ICJ as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations,” Blinken said at the time.

“The court’s contributions to the peaceful settlement of disputes and its work as a guardian of international law has never been more important.”

In 2021, Biden nominated Cleveland to be a legal adviser to the State Department, but she was never confirmed. After the ruling, the White House said it has been “clear and consistent” on its position on Rafah – without elaborating.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, discusses the ICC arrest warrant requests for Israeli and Hamas leaders.

An Israeli film festival in the eastern French city of Strasbourg has been indefinitely postponed as the Gaza war rages.

The Shalom Europa festival has been hosted in the city for 15 years and was scheduled from June 16-20.

The city council did not give a reason for the postponement but said Strasbourg “has always supported the Shalom Europa festival and will continue to do so. It promises to help hold the festival on a date that is opportune for the organisers”.

The Shalom Europa festival said on its Facebook page that “events” forced the decision to hold the event at a “calmer” time. “The safety and well-being of our participants is our absolute priority.”

Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc says the World Court order for Israel to stop its attack on Rafah is “important yet insufficient”.

“The decision of the ICJ to stop the attacks of the occupying Israel, which has been committing genocide in Gaza and Rafah since October 7, and to pave the way for humanitarian aid, is important but insufficient to end the blood and tears flowing in Palestine,” Tunc said on X.

He stressed Israel must comply with the binding order by the UN’s top court.

“Countries and international organizations that believe in democracy and human rights should also take action to ensure that Israel complies with the decisions.”

Martin Griffiths, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, says the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution demanding the protection of humanitarian workers and the ICJ order for Israel to stop its attack on Rafah have created a “moment of clarity”.

“It is a moment to demand respect for the rules of war to which all are bound: Civilians must be allowed to seek safety. Humanitarian relief must be facilitated without obstruction. Aid workers and UN staff must be able to carry out their jobs in safety,” he said in a statement.

There has been nothing limited about the suffering that Israel's military operation in Rafah has caused.

With today's adoption of Security Council resolution 2730 and the @CIJ_ICJ's order, this is a moment of clarity.

Release the hostages. Agree a ceasefire. End this nightmare. pic.twitter.com/kbwIcrgujs

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) May 24, 2024

Three prominent Palestinian rights groups – Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – welcomed the World Court’s order for Israel to halt its invasion of Rafah.

“Third states must take firm and unequivocal action to ensure Israel’s compliance with all three provisional measures orders issued by the court,” they said, adding implementation of the order is mandatory under international law.

“It is time to move beyond diplomatic rhetoric and implement concrete measures in line with international law. This includes imposing an immediate arms embargo and sanctions.”

🚨 ICJ Orders #Israel to “Immediately Halt its Military Offensive”: The International Community Must Ensure Israel’s Compliance With All Provisional Measures Orders
Our latest statement w/ @AlMezanCenter & @pchrgaza #EndIsraeliImpuntity #GazaGenocidehttps://t.co/UGNZsAW2ed

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) May 24, 2024

The US-built temporary pier on the coast of Gaza has delivered 97 trucks of aid since operations began a week ago, a UN spokesperson says.

The UN World Food Programme “took possession of 97 trucks since the floating dock came into operation” on May 17, Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

“There were a number of trucks where people, as we put it, ‘self-distributed’, but the trucks themselves did make it,” Dujarric said. “After a rocky start, the situation is stabilised. What we want to see, as we’ve been saying, is massive aid coming in through land routes.”

Before Israel launched its war on Gaza, about 500 trucks with humanitarian supplies entered Gaza through the now-closed land crossings each day.

Nearly a month after counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of California, Los Angeles, police have made their first arrest, detaining an 18-year-old who is not a student or affiliated with the school in any way.

“During that violence, one individual was seen on video assaulting encampment occupants with a wooden pole, causing serious injuries to at least one victim,” the university said in its statement, adding the suspect was booked at the UCLA Police Department for felony assault with a deadly weapon.

Counter-demonstrators threw traffic cones, fired pepper spray, and threw live mice into the encampment, setting off fighting that went on for hours before police stepped in. Police said at least 15 people were injured though the pro-Palestinian supporters put the number closer to 25.

UCLA officials have said the attack involved “a group of instigators”.

The armed Lebanese group says it used rockets and missiles to target the headquarters of the Sahel Battalion of the 769th Brigade of the Israeli military in Beit Hilel, achieving a direct hit.

It is the 11th attack claimed by Hezbollah today with earlier attacks targeting gatherings of Israeli soldiers and equipment.

Air raid sirens have also sounded in areas in northern Israel over the past few hours.

🚨 Large Red Alert [22:15:12] – 9 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Rehaniya, Dalton, Kerem Ben Zimra, Jish (Gush Halav), Avivim, Ramat Dalton Industrial Zone, Baram, Yir'on, Alma#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/ImJCGEA56S

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 24, 2024

Israeli military attacks across the Gaza Strip have significantly damaged or rendered inoperable all hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Humanitarian workers have set up nine field hospitals, but it is not enough to attend to the wounded Palestinians coming in every day, according to the UN.

“Thousands need to be evacuated for treatment they can’t access within the Strip,” it said.

The health-care system in #Gaza is on its knees.

Humanitarians have set up 9 field hospitals, but this is not enough to attend to the continuous influx of patients.

Thousands need to be evacuated for treatment they can't access within the Strip.

🔊 Hear from staff on site 🔽

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) May 24, 2024

The UK-based human rights organisation says the ICJ order makes it “crystal clear” that Israel must halt the attack on Rafah.

“The Israeli authorities must completely halt military operations in Rafah, as any ongoing military action could constitute an underlying act of genocide,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a statement.

“Unequivocally, the ground incursion and the associated mass forced displacement it has caused, pose further irreparable risk to the rights of the Palestinian people protected under the Genocide Convention and further threaten their physical destruction in whole or in part.”

Algeria has been working on a rough draft resolution for a couple of weeks now.

But I think there’s definitely more urgency after this ICJ ruling. That’s the sense we got from Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour and others in the Arab group.

They want to put together – or update this draft resolution that’s been worked on – to really take in specifically the rulings by the ICJ and put that in a draft and get it in front of the UN Security Council, get it circulated for comments for a potential vote as soon as possible.

It’s important because the ICJ, while their decisions are binding, they have no enforcement mechanism. That falls to the UNSC and that’s why there’s so much urgency right now to get a draft out there for a potential vote.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says despite education services having “collapsed” in Gaza, the organisation is still providing children with psychosocial support.

“UNRWA teams still reach families with critical services, but we need a ceasefire now,” it said.

The mental health of children in Gaza has been severely affected by Israel’s war and an estimated one million children require psychological support. Before the conflict erupted, UNICEF estimated more than 500,000 children in Gaza needed psychosocial support.

As education services collapsed in Gaza, @UNRWA continues to offer critical psychosocial support for children.

Mohammad is a retired UNRWA teacher who supports children through art.

UNRWA teams still reach families with critical services, but we need a #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/6DygXcIRdY

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 24, 2024

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after a ruling by the World Court to immediately cease military operations in Rafah.

According to a statement by Gantz’s office, the men discussed “efforts to ensure the return of the hostages” and prospects of normalization with Saudi Arabia.

He said Israel rejects the Saudi condition of “establishing a pathway to a future Palestinian state” in return for bilateral relations.

Blinken reportedly raised the issue of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, with Gantz responding aid supplies reach all areas of the enclave.

Gantz stressed Israel will continue the war on Gaza, including its offensive in Rafah, and “make an effort to avoid harming the civilian population”.