Israel must halt offensive in Rafah, UN's top court rules. Israel is unlikely to comply.

WASHINGTON – The U.N.'s top court on Friday ordered Israel to "immediately halt" its military offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians had been sheltering.

The order was adopted by a 13-2 vote by the International Court of Justice panel of judges. It requests that Israel submit a report to the court within a month outlining the measures it implemented to satisfy the directive.

"Israel must immediately halt its military offensive” in Rafah and any other actions that could lead to the destruction of the enclave “in whole or in part," the court's 18-page ruling said.

South Africa requested the World Court make such an order as part of a broader case accusing Israel of committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The court said it is "not convinced that the evacuation efforts and related measures that Israel affirms to have undertaken" in the Gaza Strip, per a March order "are sufficient to alleviate the immense risk" posed to the Palestinian population.

Israel disseminated a joint statement by the chief of staff for National Security and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying South Africa's accusations of "genocide" are "false, outrageous and morally repugnant."

The statement also said that Israel "had not carried out" and "will not carry out" military activity that would "bring about the destruction" of the Palestinian civilian population, "in whole or in part."

Rulings by the court, however, cannot be enforced and Israel is likely to ignore the order.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed accusations of genocide, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are targeted at Hamas militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. As of Friday, 125 hostages are being held captive by the militant group.

Approximately 800,000 Palestinians have fled the city, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The White House reiterated the president's firm opposition to a major ground invasion of Rafah on Friday. The State Department did not provide a comment on the ruling in response to a request from USA TODAY.

Prior to the ICJ ruling State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel rejected South Africa's characterization of Israel's conduct in Gaza as a "genocide," telling reporters at a briefing, "We continue to believe that those claims are unwarranted and false. "

After Egypt offered its support for South Africa's case earlier in May, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan cast the intervention as unhelpful to discussions between Egypt and Israel about the distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. "But I do know that Egypt, Israel, the United States, the United Nations, we are all trying to work together to figure out a way forward," Sullivan said at the time.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., rebuked the court in a social media post. The GOP leader said the "ICJ is blinded by anti-Israel bias" and pushed Biden to commit to vetoing any U.N. Security Council resolution that would enforce the decision.

The court’s actions add to the mounting pressure on Israel over the way it is waging war.

The International Criminal Court earlier this week requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as other Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes against humanity.  The charges must go before a panel of court judges before they are formally issued.

Biden condemned the Criminal Court’s move, calling it “outrageous.” And Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that the move was unhelpful to cease-fire negotiations. He told Congress that the administration is willing to entertain legislation sanctioning the international tribunal, but it's unclear how many Democratic lawmakers would support punishing the Criminal Court.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, the only Palestinian-American in Congress and an outspoken critic of Biden's response to the war, again questioned the administration's support of Israel after the U.N. court ruling.

"The whole world is taking action to stop the genocide of Palestinians, including the International Court of Justice," Tlaib wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Where is President Biden’s 'red line'?"

Several of the U.S.’s European allies, including Ireland, Spain and Norway, also this week said they would recognize a Palestinian state. Before the announcement, roughly two-thirds of U.N. member states recognized a Palestinian state.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UN court orders Israel to 'immediately halt' Rafah offensive in Gaza.