TEHRAN- Israel has slipped further into international isolation after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the regime to stop its offensive in Rafah.

“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” Nawaf Salam, the ICJ president, said on Friday as he read out a ruling. 

Salam described the humanitarian situation in Rafah “disastrous”. He noted that United Nations officials have indicated that the situation is set to “intensify even further” if Israel’s assault on Rafah continues.

Earlier this month, South Africa filed an urgent request for additional measures against Israel. The African country accused the regime of using forced evacuation orders in Rafah to “endanger rather than protect civilian life.” 

Pretoria’s move was part of a larger case it brought against Israel which accuses the Tel Aviv regime of committing genocide against Palestinians during the Gaza war. 

Israel has remained defiant in the face of growing international calls to end its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip as the death toll from the military campaign in the besieged Palestinian territory keeps rising.

Israeli carnage 

According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 80,000 others wounded since Israel launched war on the territory on October 7.

More than 900,000 Palestinians have also been displaced since Israel launched a ground offensive in Rafah on May 6.

The United Nations says the displaced Palestinians lack shelter, food, water and other essentials.

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population had been crammed into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, before Israel carried out the offensive. They had fled Israeli strikes from other parts of the territory. 

US agencies and aid organizations have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel expands its assault on Rafah. 

Israel remains accused of starving Palestinians and perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. 

In February, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told the Guardian that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians.

On Monday, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said he had requested arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and War Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Gaza war. 

The ICC prosecutor said the accusations against the Israeli premier and war minister include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”

Netanyahu, however, has spurned the arrest warrants and vowed to continue the Gaza war despite growing anti-war protests and rising civilian death toll. 

Protests against the Gaza war have been a regular occurrence in Israel over the past months. The protesters want a ceasefire, the return of captives, early elections and Netanyahu’s resignation. 

No to genocide  

On Friday, protesters gathered outside the US consulate general in West Jerusalem(al-Quds) calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza. 

The demonstrators demanded that Washington stop arming the Israeli “genocide” in the besieged Palestinian territory. 

They also accused the Netanyahu regime of starving Palestinians in Gaza, saying the starvation of Gazans amounts to a war crime. 

Israeli forces detained several people as they tried to disperse the demonstration. 

Similar protests have been held across the globe including in the United States. 

In recent weeks, US universities and colleges have seen huge protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. Students have set up encampments at college campuses calling on their institutions to cut financial ties with companies that benefit from Israel’s war on Gaza. 

Some American politicians have also urged Washington to exert pressure on Israel to stop its brutal onslaught on Gaza. 

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Senator Bernie Sanders denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as “barbarism”. 

“The world community has got to have certain standards, or else we move into barbarism,” Sanders said. 

The 82-year-old leftist and two-time presidential candidate from Vermont made the comments as he cited earlier orders given by Gallant for his troops. 

“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant said on October 9. 

Sanders also defended the ICC’s request to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. 

He said the ICC is “trying to hold at least some minimum standards of what governments have got to do”. 

The Israeli prime minister is prolonging the Gaza war to achieve “total victory” over Hamas, “destroy” the resistance movement and release the remaining captives. 

Nonetheless, after more than seven months, he has not only failed to defeat Hamas but also, according to the Israeli military’s intelligence, support for the resistance movement has grown. 

Netanyahu’s goal of securing the release of captives is also a failed strategy as more of them are losing their lives during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. 

More than 100 captives are still believed to be held in Gaza. 

Over 1,100 people were killed and about 250 others were taken captive when Hamas carried out a surprise military operation in southern Israel on October 7. Over 100 captives were freed in a swap deal with Hamas in November last year. Other captives have died during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. 

Israel was only able to secure the release of captives through talks with Hamas. 

Israel has been unable to bring Hamas to its knees because the resistance fighters have maintained their military capabilities and launched attacks against the regime’s troops. 

Hamas has turned Israel’s dream of crushing the Palestinian resistance into a nightmare. 

More Israeli soldiers and captives will fall victim to Netanyahu’s warmongering policy as long as he tries to prolong the war. The continuation of the onslaught will also further expose the regime’s global isolation as more countries are recognizing Palestine as a state.