Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ruled on Friday.
The ruling came after South Africa petitioned the world court to stop Israel entering Rafah, the besieged southernmost settlement in the Gaza Strip.
The petition is part of a wider genocide case against Israel, which judges have not yet ruled on.
“In conformity with the obligations under the genocide convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in [Rafah] which [it] may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza,” Nawaf Salam, the presiding judge, said at the hearing on Friday.
The UN court’s rulings are binding but it has no way of enforcing them. Israel has said that a pause in fighting would allow an already resurgent Hamas to regroup.
South Africa has framed the Israeli military operation in Gaza as part of a genocidal plan aimed at bringing about the destruction of the Palestinian people.
The decision is a blow to an increasingly isolated Israel.
Although its impact on the ground in Gaza is expected to be limited, with Israel unlikely to respect the ruling, the political and diplomatic fallout is likely to be widespread.
The judgment follows the ICJ’s decision in January to hear allegations of genocide against Israel after South Africa brought a case against it.
And earlier this week, the chief prosecutor of the separate International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants to be issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the Israeli prime minister and defence minister, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In Israel, the pressure is causing the country to rally round its leaders – something actively encouraged by Mr Netanyahu who is dependent for his political survival on support from the extreme Right.
Externally, however, the impact is working against him. Ireland, Norway and Spain all moved to recognise the Palestinian state this week and every day world criticism grows.
Even in the UK and US – Israel’s most loyal Western allies – patience is wearing thin. The US continues to restrict the export of certain heavy weapons to Israel.
In the hearing on Friday, the court also ordered Israel to open up the border crossing with Egypt and Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave, as well as provide access for investigators.
Israel took control of the vital Rafah crossing into Gaza, which borders Egypt, in a “pinpoint operation” against Hamas in April, sparking international condemnation over fears it could trigger a humanitarian crisis while more than a million civilians are taking refuge there.
South Africa has framed the Israeli military operation in Gaza as part of a genocidal plan aimed at bringing about the destruction of the Palestinian people.
Its lawyers said Israel’s control over the two major border crossings in southern Gaza – Rafah and Kerem Shalom – was preventing sufficient humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.
The 15 judges were split 13-2 over the latest order on Friday, with judges from Uganda and Israel providing the only opposition.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and leader of a far-Right party, dismissed the ruling after it was handed down.
“The state of Israel is at war for its existence. Those who demand that the state of Israel stop the war, demand that it decree itself to cease to exist. We will not agree to that,” he said.
