Israel continues its bombing of Rafah, the day after the ICJ decision ordering the suspension of operations

The Israeli army bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, on Saturday, the day after a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering it to suspend its operations in this sector amid efforts in Paris to bring about a ceasefire. -the fire between Israel and Hamas. Le Figaro takes stock of the situation.

Israeli strikes on Rafah after ICJ decision

The ICJ, the highest court of the UN whose decisions are legally binding but which lacks mechanisms to implement them, ordered Israel to cease its offensive on Rafah and to keep open the passage to Egypt, essential to the entry for humanitarian aid but closed after the launch of its ground operation in early May. Israel defended itself by asserting that it had no “has not carried out and will not carry out military operations in the Rafah area which create living conditions likely to lead to the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population, in whole or in part”.

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The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, at war with Israel and in power in Gaza since June 2007, welcomed the ICJ’s decision while deploring that it was limited “only in Rafah”. In the wake of Friday’s ICJ decision, Israeli bombings continued in the Gaza Strip. Ditto for the clashes between the Israeli army and the armed wing of Hamas. Early Saturday, Palestinian witnesses and AFP teams reported Israeli strikes in Rafah (south), a town on the edge of Egypt, but also in Deir al-Balah (center).

Talks in Paris

Seized by South Africa which accuses Israel of “genocide”the Court not only ordered an immediate ceasefire in Rafah, the opening of the eponymous border post to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, but also the “immediate and unconditional release” hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Earlier in the week, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged crimes committed in Israel and the Strip. from Gaza.

Although the Israeli government criticized the prosecutor’s announcement, it nevertheless ordered its negotiators to “return to the negotiating table to obtain the return of the hostages”, according to a senior official. In early May, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, through Qatar, Egypt and the United States, did not result in a truce agreement associated with the release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners. held by Israel.

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The head of the CIA, William Burns, is expected in Paris on Friday or Saturday to try to relaunch talks on a truce in Gaza, AFP learned from a Western source close to the matter. French President Emmanuel Macron received the Prime Minister of Qatar and the Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers on Friday “to press for a ceasefire”, according to Cairo. According to the French presidency, the leaders discussed, at the Élysée, the implementation of the “two-state solution”, or a viable State of Palestine alongside Israel. Spain, Ireland and Norway recently announced that they recognized the State of Palestine.

The leaders also spoke of “all the levers that could be activated in order to obtain the reopening of all crossing points” towards this Palestinian territory and examined how “increase and deepen their cooperation in humanitarian aid”.

Alarming humanitarian situation

At the same time, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken spoke with Benny Gantz, member of the Israeli war cabinet, about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the “as soon as possible” the Rafah crossing, Washington said. The security and humanitarian situation in the territory remains alarming with a risk of famine, hospitals out of service and around 800,000 people, according to the UN, who have fled Rafah in the last two weeks.

“We are at a pivotal moment”summarized the head of UN humanitarian operations, Martin Griffiths, overnight. “Humanitarian workers and United Nations personnel must be able to carry out their work in complete safety (…) at a time when the population of Gaza is sinking into famine”. In this context, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi committed, in a telephone exchange with Joe Biden, to “let humanitarian aid pass” of the UN for Gaza via the Israeli crossing point of Kerem Shalom, according to the White House.