Israel’s lawyers have told the United Nations top court that the country has the right to move ahead with a full-scale offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza to defend itself against Palestinian group Hamas after South Africa filed an urgent request to order a ceasefire as part of a wider case accusing Israel of genocide.
“The fact remains that the city of Rafah also serves as a military stronghold for Hamas, which continues to pose a significant threat to the state of Israel and its citizens,” Gilad Noam, Israel’s deputy attorney general for international law, told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday.
