Israel-Hamas war: IDF tells more Rafah residents to leave

The Israeli government on Saturday called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, Netherlands, to reject a new South African request that the court force Israel to take provisional measures to avoid genocide in Gaza.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Oren Marmorstein, in a post on the social media platform X, said that "Israel acts and will continue to act in accordance with international law."

Marmorstein claimed, "Hamas has once again been able to rely on the legal counsel of South Africa to make fictional claims in order to manipulate the international community."    

In December, South Africa brought a case to the ICJ claiming Israel was committing the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Th ICJ ordered Israel in January to take all measures within its power to prevent forces from committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It also instructed Israel to take action to protect Palestinian civilians from further harm and allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory, while it considers the broader case. Aid agencies and top UN officials say it is uncertain that Israel has followed the ICJ's orders. 

In filings published Friday, South Africa is seeking additional emergency measures in light of the ongoing military action in Rafah, which it calls the "last refuge" for Palestinians in Gaza.

European Council President Charles Michel called Israel's evacuation orders to Palestinians in Rafah "unacceptable" and warned Israel against launching a ground offensive in the border city.

"Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to unsafe zones are unacceptable," Michel said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"We call on the Israeli government to respect international humanitarian law and urge not to undertake a ground operation in #Rafah," he said.

"Crossing points must be fully functioning and allow essential humanitarian assistance to get through amidst raging famine. #Gaza," he wrote.

Michel called for continued talks for a lasting cease-fire in Gaza.

He said that the EU is "committed to a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution" and called for the "establishment of a viable State of Palestine."

The statement comes after an Israeli army spokesman told Palestinians in parts of eastern Rafah to evacuate towards the coast.

The UN had previously estimated that over a million people had fled to Rafah from north and center of the Palestinian enclave.

Israel's military says that it is continuing operations in the eastern part of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

It said that it had killed several Hamas militants over the past 24 hours.

Israel's forces are still active on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the military said.

The Israeli army also said that rockets were launched from Rafah towards the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel.

It said that one rocket was intercepted by Israeli forces and the "rest fell in open areas" near the crossing, adding that no injuries were reported.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed 28 people in the past 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry. 

Overall Israel Defense Forces operations in the territory have killed more than 34,971 Palestinians since October 7, mostly women and children, a ministry statement said.

The UN and multiple humanitarian organizations consider the casualty numbers supplied by the ministry broadly reliable.

The IDF launched a ground offensive in Gaza after the militant Hamas group staged an attack on southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of around 200 more. 

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and Germany, among others.

Israel has told residents from more areas of the southern Gaza city of Rafah to evacuate and head to an "expanded humanitarian area" in Al-Mawasi, to the north. 

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee told Palestinians in additional parts of eastern Rafah — the Rafah and Shaboura camps, and the neighborhoods of Al-Adari, Al-Jeneina, and Khirbet Al-Adas — to leave their homes and head to the coastal area.

He also urged people in the Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya districts of northern Gaza to relocate to "shelters west of Gaza City."

Adraee warned that heavy strikes were likely in these areas. 

"You are in a dangerous combat zone," Adraee posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter on Saturday. "Hamas is trying to rebuild its capabilities in the region, and therefore the IDF will work with great force against the terrorist organizations in the region in which you are located, and therefore everyone who is in those areas exposes themselves and their families to danger."

Fighting has escalated across the Gaza Strip, with heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of Rafah and in the north. 

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on Friday estimated that as many as 110,000 had already fled Rafah.

Previously, the UN had estimated that more than a million people fled south to Rafah during the earlier months of the conflict, when Israeli military operations were more focused on northern Gaza.

A US State Department report says Israel is likely to have broken international legal norms in its use of weapons supplied by Washington — but crucially ruled that there was not enough evidence to block shipments.

The Department submitted its report two days after President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells should Israel press ahead with an all-out assault on Rafah.

Washington has repeatedly voiced concern over the civilian impact of Israel's war against Hamas Palestinian militants. 

This week's threat was the first time Biden had publicly warned of potentially restricting its military exports to Israel, which total roughly $3 billion annually, in this manner.

rc/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)