"The Israeli occupation aircraft launched a violent bombardment on several areas of the city of Rafah. The bombardment targeted the streets and the homes of citizens in the center of the Shaboura camp, in Rafah, causing casualties among the citizens", reported the news agency.

According to the same Palestinian source, the Israeli artillery also targeted the Abu Yoused al-Najjar hospital, on which the remaining inhabitants of Gaza in Rafah increasingly depend, since the other hospital in the area, the Kuwaiti, may stop working in the next few hours due to the damage caused by the Israeli attacks.

The Israeli army has not yet commented on any of the attacks.

The ICJ today demanded the "immediate" suspension of the offensive in Rafah and also ordered the reopening of the adjacent border crossing with Egypt, closed since the 9th of this month, and that it allow the entry of humanitarian agencies into the Gaza Strip "without hindrance" to investigate alleged war crimes.

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023, at least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 80,200 have been injured, according to the local Ministry of Health, controlled by the extremist Hamas movement, which states that there are thousands of people missing under the rubble.

According to the ICJ, Israel must "immediately suspend the military offensive, as well as any other action" in Rafah "that could inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza living conditions likely to cause its total or partial physical destruction".

The court, based in The Hague, cited the obligations incumbent on Israel "by virtue of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and taking into account the worsening living conditions of civilians" in Rafah.

Israel must also "take effective measures to ensure unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body" mandated by the UN "to investigate allegations of genocide".

The State of Israel must also submit a report, within 90 days, on the measures decided by the ICJ. The decision was approved by 13 votes in favor and two against, announced the president of the ICJ, the Lebanese Nawaf Salam.

The decision stems from a petition from South Africa submitted to the ICJ in December, two months after the start of the war between Israel and the extremist Palestinian group Hamas.

In January, the ICJ had ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any act of genocide and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In view of the worsening situation in Rafah, South Africa requested new measures from the ICJ, which were released today at the court's headquarters in the Netherlands.

Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), also based in The Hague, which tries individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the ICJ tries to resolve legal disputes submitted by States.

The ICJ is the main judicial body of the United Nations and began operating in 1946, and is composed of 15 judges.

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