The UN's top court on Friday ordered Israel to "immediately" halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory was "disastrous."
The ruling read aloud by judge Nawaf Salam at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague was in response to an urgent application submitted by South Africa.
South Africa justified its application to the ICJ by arguing that the court's previous measures in connection with the Gaza war were inadequate.
South Africa has previously demanded measures against Israel several times in summary proceedings. This is part of the genocide lawsuit that the country filed with the court in December.
In two emergency rulings, the UN judges had obliged Israel to do everything possible to prevent genocide and to allow humanitarian aid.
Israel has rejected all the allegations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoking the country's right to self-defence in response to the attack mounted by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and other groups on October 7.
Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman said on Thursday when asked what Israel would do if the court ordered a halt to the military operation in the Gaza Strip: “No power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza.”
While the top UN court's rulings are binding, it has no means of forcing compliance. It can, however, call on the UN Security Council to act.
Hamas gunmen killed some 1,200 people in Israel on October 7. Israel responded with a devastating aerial and ground campaign that, according to Hamas-run health authorities, has killed more than 35,000 people in the territory.
Israel has vowed to keep up its military operations until Hamas has been completely eliminated in Gaza.