ICJ ruling underscores Israel’s growing isolation, experts say (2024)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling comes days after the International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate court in The Hague, sought arrest warrants for Hamas leaders as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.

The international pressure facing Israel today is “unprecedented,” Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank in London, told CNN. “Because this war is unprecedented, and the way Israel conducts the war is unprecedented.”

While there has always been criticism of some of Israel’s actions, such as regarding the expansion of settlements, “this is on a different scale, a different universe altogether,” he said.

The ICJ ruling will create “unprecedented legal pressure” on the Israeli state and its officials, Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, told CNN.

Action against Israel at international courts is placing Israel “under extreme isolation even among its allies, which might affect its ability to receive weapons, and might lead to other sanctions, " he said, adding: "It also leads to a strong feeling of isolation within Israeli society.”

Israel must submit a report within one month on progress related to measures ordered by the UN’s top court.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel must take effective measures to ensure access to fact-finding missions and investigative bodies from the United Nations to investigate “allegations of genocide” andto open the Rafah border crossing for humanitarian assistance.

The court’s president, Judge Nawaf Salam, said officials in the United Nations indicated that the situation was set to “intensify even further” if the Israeli “operation continues” in Rafah.

Rulings issued by the ICJ are binding, but it has no way of enforcing them. Although Israel is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, the court cannot compel the Israeli government to change its military plans in Gaza.

Israel is unlikely to abide by the order, Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, told CNN. “That would be the immediate end of Netanyahu’s coalition, the preservation of which seems to be one of his main concerns.”

But Lieblich said the ruling will nonetheless create “unprecedented legal pressure” on the Israeli state and its officials, “which would also translate to significant harm in terms of global public opinion.”

The United Nations' top court has ordered Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The court, which sits in The Hague, the Netherlands, made the ruling on Friday as part of the ongoing genocide case brought by South Africa.

In its ruling, the court said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had deteriorated "even further" since the court last ordered provisional measures in March.

The court noted that around 800,000 Palestinians had been displaced from Rafah as of May 18, after Israel began its military offensive on May 7.

Israel had warned civilians in parts of the city to evacuate ahead of its operation, but the court said these efforts were not "sufficient to alleviate the immense risk to which the Palestinian population is exposed as a result" of Israel's incursion.

The United Nations’ highest court is set to deliver its ruling in a case against Israel brought by South Africa, which could see it order Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

South Africa filed an urgent request on May 10 for additional measures in its genocide case against Israel, accusing it of using forced evacuation orders in Rafah to “endanger rather than protect civilian life.”

The panel of judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, has been seated and proceedings have now begun.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz claims that it isn't time to recognize a Palestinian state, as there is “no clarity on the territory of the state" as well as "other issues."

“What we need is a negotiated solution between Israel and the Palestinians that amounts to a two-state solution," the German chancellor said Friday during a joint news conference with Portugal's prime minister in Berlin. Scholzadded that a solution must include “a Palestinian Authority that is responsible for the West Bank and Gaza."

Some background: The comments follow Ireland, Spain and Norway announcingplansto formally recognize a Palestinian state next week, in a move that is likely to bolster the global Palestinian cause, but further strain relations between Europe and Israel.

The three European nations say their landmark decision is the best way to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, but it sparked swift condemnation from Israel, as its foreign minister ordered the immediate recall of its ambassadors from those countries.

An Israeli delegation will travel to Paris soon, an Israeli official has told CNN. The trip comes as CNN reported Thursday that CIA Director Bill Burns is traveling back to Europe to try to get the ceasefire and hostage deal back on track, according to a US official.

The Israeli official did not confirm the exact timeline or provide further information on the reason for the Israeli delegation’s trip and who they would meet.

The US official told CNNthat the director of the CIA is “in frequent discussions with the Egyptians, Qataris and Israelis. Both Egypt and Qatar are very engaged, as are the Israelis.”

A Qatari official also told CNN that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will participate in the talks. The prime minister is currently in Paris.

Neither official would confirm theother participants.

In previous talks, they have been joined in Paris by Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea and the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel.

CNN's Alex Marquardt contributed reporting to this post.

Israeli forces say they found the bodies of three hostages taken by Hamas, in Jabalya, following "intense combat" in the northern Gaza neighborhood overnight.

Elsewhere, the UN warned of "another war" faced by Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ramp up attacks on the occupied territory.

Here are the latest developments:

Friday's announcement that the bodies of three hostages were recovered by Israeli forces means 121 hostages from the Hamas-led October 7 attacks into southern Israel are being held in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) believes that at least 37 hostages from the October 7 attack are dead, with their bodies being held in the Gaza Strip.

More hostages: In addition, four people have been held since before October 7. The total number of people kidnapped from Israel and being held in the Gaza Strip is 125, according to a count based on numbers from the PMO.

Of the four hostages being held in Gaza prior to October 7, two are Israeli soldiers and are dead. The other two are believed to be alive.

More than 200 EU civil servants and other staff members havewrittento the bloc’s top three officials to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to member states’ arms exports to Israel.

The letter titled “Not In Our Name," says that the EU’s “continued apathy” to the plight of Palestinians risks "normalising the rise of a world order where it is the sheer use of force, as opposed to a rule-based system, that determines state security, territorial integrity, and political independence."

They add: “It was precisely to avert such a grim world order that our grandparents, witnesses of the horrors of World War II, created Europe. To stand idly by in the face of such an erosion of the international rule of law would mean failing the European project as envisaged by them.”

Signatories say they have signed the letter, which was delivered to the presidents of the European Commission, parliament, and the European Council on Thursday, in a “personal capacity as EU citizens” to express their “growing concern over the EU’s inaction in the context of the ongoing crisis in Gaza."

The calls come in the same week that three European countries – Ireland, Spain and Norway -announced plansto formally recognize a Palestinian state.

Although Norway is not an EU member, the plans do have the potential toexert greater pressureon the countries’ western allies to take a tougher stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. But the move is not a coordinated European effort and the bloc has long struggled to speak with one voice.