Israel-Hamas war: Israel calls ICJ charges 'morally repugnant'

• Israel said 'it has not and will not' target Rafah's civilian population
• Nearly 100 aid truck deliveries via the US-built Gaza pier
• South Africa welcomes ICJ call for Israel to halt Rafah offensive

Here are the latest developments from the Israel-Hamas war and the wider Middle East region on Saturday, May 25.

05/25/2024May 25, 2024

Nearly 100 trucks of aid via the temporary Gaza pier — UN

The UN said on Friday that 97 trucks of aid had been delivered to Gaza via the US-built temporary pier on the Palestinian territory's coast.

The UN World Food Programme "took possession of 97 trucks since the floating dock came into operation" on May 17, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told reporters.

In the first couple of days of deliveries, some Gazans mobbed the trucks as they made their way to warehouses. 

"There were a number of trucks where people, as we put it, self-distributed, but the trucks themselves did make it," Dujarric said.

 "After a rocky start, the situation is stabilized."

"What we want to see, as we've been saying, is massive aid coming in through land routes," the UN spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that between May 7 and May 23, only 906 truckloads entered the enclave of 2.3 million people, where a famine looms.

05/25/2024May 25, 2024

South Africa welcomes ICJ order for Israel to halt Rafah offensive

The South African government on Friday welcomed the order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip.

"South Africa welcomes the order handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today by 13 votes to 2, ordering Israel, in conformity with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in Rafah, to immediately halt its military operation," a statement issued by the South African presidency said.

“We are gravely concerned that Israel has restricted necessary levels of aid from entering Gaza and has systematically targeted aid and aid infrastructure within Gaza," President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Toward the end of last year, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel before the ICJ. Since then, it has pushed for measures to be taken to stop Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israel's military says it is targeting the Hamas militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and other governments.

Israel has argued that it is acting in the interests of self-defense and within the bounds of international law.

Israel's leadership has vowed to continue military operations in Gaza until Hamas has been completely eliminated.

05/25/2024May 25, 2024

Israel slams genocide charges as 'morally repugnant'

Israel's leadership on Friday said that genocide charges brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague were "false, outrageous and morally repugnant."

The comments were made in a joint statement issued by the head of Israel's National Security Council and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement comes after the ICJ on Friday ruled that Israel "must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governate which may inflict on Palestinian groups in Gaza conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

"Following the horrific attack against the citizens of Israel on October 7th, 2023, Israel embarked upon a defensive and just war to eliminate Hamas and to secure the release of our hostages," Israel's joint statement said. 

Israel said that it was acting on the basis of its right to self-defense "in compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law."

Israel also said it would not conduct military actions in Rafah "which may inflict on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. 

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the Israeli army says are dead.

According to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 35,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war began.

Last week South African lawyers asked the ICJ to order an emergency halt to the military operation in Rafah —  a city in southern Gaza where more than one million people are sheltering — accusing Israel of intensifying what it calls "genocide" in Gaza.

South Africa has also been pushing for Israel to end its wider war in Gaza, but the court held back from issuing an order that covers the entire territory.