The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on the UN Security Council to take immediate measures to stop the Israeli attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and called on it to bear its responsibility for Tel Aviv’s ignoring of the International Court of Justice’s order to stop the aggression against the city.
The movement said, in a statement on Tuesday, “We call on the international community and the Security Council to take practical and immediate measures to stop the Israeli aggression and escalating invasion against the city of Rafah, which is being subjected to barbaric, indiscriminate Zionist bombing, targeting homes and tents of displaced people in various parts of the city.”
The movement stressed that the Security Council is required to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities in the face of Israel’s disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered an immediate halt to the aggression against the city and its deployment of more military brigades there, which threatens the occurrence of massacres against the small city crowded with displaced people.
Hamas warned of the worsening humanitarian and health catastrophe in the city, in light of the Israeli occupation army’s targeting of hospitals and health centers in the city, which caused most of them to be out of service, under bombardment and siege, and the ongoing and escalating genocidal war for more than 7 months.
Last Friday, the International Court of Justice issued orders demanding that Israel “immediately stop its attack on the city of Rafah” and “maintain the opening of the Rafah crossing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.” It also ordered Tel Aviv to submit a report to it within a month on the steps it has taken in this regard.
These new measures came from the court – which is the highest judicial body in the United Nations – as part of a comprehensive lawsuit filed by South Africa at the end of last December, accusing Tel Aviv of “committing genocide crimes” in Gaza.
Military reinforcements
Despite the court order, the Israeli occupation army radio announced earlier today that a new brigade had joined 5 other brigades penetrating Rafah, as part of expanding the military operation.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced earlier today that all Rafah hospitals were out of service, except for one hospital specializing in maternity, as a result of the Israeli bombing.
On May 7, Israel took control of the Rafah crossing, a day after it began its ground invasion of the city. Cairo responded by refusing to coordinate with Tel Aviv regarding the crossing, and accused it of causing a humanitarian disaster in the Strip.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 117,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues this war, ignoring a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop the fighting immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice demanding that it stop its attack on Rafah.