International Court of Justice orders Israel to immediately end military operation in Rafah

The top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire for the enclave.

While Israel is unlikely to comply with the order, the order ratchets up pressure on the increasingly isolated country.

International Court of Justice president Nawaf Salam, calling the humanitarian situation in Rafah as "exceptionally grave," read the ruling as a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the court in The Hague.

Although the court has broad powers to order an end to the Israeli military campaign and any such ruling would be a blow to Israel's international standing, it does not have a police force to enforce its orders. Russia, for example, has ignored a ruling from the same court to to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Attacks on Oct. 7 in southern Israel led by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by several Western nations including Canada, killed around 1,200 people. Several of the dead were Canadian citizens.

Israel has said the operation in Rafah is necessary to continue to degrade the capabilities of Hamas and free dozens of hostages still believed to be held there. Ahead of the ruling, an Israeli government spokesperson said that "no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza."

Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition and often critical of Benjamin Netanyahu's goverment, derided the decision.

"The fact that the ICJ did not even directly connect the end of the military operation in Rafah to the release of the hostages and to Israel's right to defend itself against terror is an abject moral failure," he said.

Israel's offensive since the war began has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and has caused a humanitarian crisis and a near-famine.

Fears the court expressed earlier this year about an operation in Rafah have "materialized," the ruling said, and Israel must "immediately halt its military offensive" in the city and anything else that might result in conditions that could cause the "physical destruction in whole or in part" of Palestinians there.

WATCH l The entire ICJ ruling and explanation:

Rafah is in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. More than one million people sought refuge there in recent months after fleeing fighting elsewhere, with many of them are living in teeming tent camps.

Israel has been vowing for months to invade Rafah, saying it was Hamas's last major stronghold, even as several allies warned an all-out assault would spell disaster.

Israel started issuing evacuation orders about two weeks ago as it began operations on the edge of the city, but the court said it found evacuation and humanitarian plans were not sufficient.