The Latest | Israel told to halt Rafah offensive but UN court stops short of full Gaza cease-fire

Jerusalem, May 24 (AP) Israel was told to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but judges on the top United Nations court stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire throughout the Palestinian territory.
     The cease-fire request is part of a case filed late last year by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza campaign. Israel vehemently denies the allegations. The case at the International Court of Justice will take years to resolve, but South Africa wants interim orders to protect Palestinians while the legal wrangling continues.
     Israel faces global criticism over the mounting death toll and devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than a million Palestinians fled Rafah in recent weeks as Israeli forces press deeper into the city. Those displaced by fighting lack shelter, food, water and other essentials, the UN humanitarian agency said Wednesday.
     At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians.
     After seven brutal months of war with Israel, Hamas has regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas in northern Gaza, resuming rocket attacks into nearby Israeli communities. Israel says its troops are operating in Rafah, central Gaza and in Jabaliya in the north.
     Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas' October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. The Israeli army said Friday that it recovered the bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7.
    
     Currently:
     — Israel's army says the bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7 were recovered overnight from Gaza.
     — Top UN court orders Israel to halt military operation in Rafah; Israel is unlikely to comply.
     — The Security Council will vote on resolution decrying attacks on the UN and aid workers, and demanding protection.
     — Iran inters its late president at the holiest Shiite site in the nation after a fatal helicopter crash.
     — More aid is getting from the US pier to people in Gaza after a troubled launch.
    
     Here's the latest:
     TOP UN COURT ORDERS ISRAEL TO HALT MILITARY OFFENSIVE IN RAFAH, BUT ISRAEL IS UNLIKELY TO COMPLY
     THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — but stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire.
     Although Israel is unlikely to comply with Friday's order, it will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country. Criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing, particularly on operations in Rafah.
     It has even come from its closest ally, the United States. This week alone, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for another UN court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and Hamas officials.
     Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under heavy pressure at home to end the war.
     While the ruling by the International Court of Justice is a blow to Israel's international standing, the court does not have a police force to enforce its orders. In another case on its docket, Russia has so far ignored a 2022 order by the court to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
    
     MACRON TO HOST TALKS WITH ARAB MINISTERS. CIA'S BURNS MEETING WITH ISRAELIS AND QATARIS IN PARIS
     PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron will host Qatar's prime minister and other officials from Arab nations for talks on the Middle East on Friday, his office said.
     It says the meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace will include, along with Qatar's prime minister, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudia Arabia, and France. It says they'll be discussing the Middle East but gave no details
     Meanwhile in Washington, a US official said CIA Director Bill Burns is meeting in Paris with Israelis and Qataris in informal talks aimed at getting hostage and cease-fire negotiations back on track, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the meetings.
     The official gave no time for the discussions.
     Burns is in close contact with Egyptian officials, the official said. The Qataris and Egyptians are serving as mediators with Hamas officials, who are not taking part in person in the talks.
    
     GERMANY PRESSES ISRAEL AND HAMAS TO URGENTLY ALLOW MORE AID INTO GAZA
     BERLIN — Germany pressed Israel and Hamas on Friday to urgently allow the entry and distribution of more humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
     German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said the situation in Gaza was “catastrophic and disastrous.”
     “The Isreali government has stressed repeatedly that it wants to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid. Honestly speaking, that is not visible at the moment and that must urgently change,” Wagner said at a government news conference.
     “For this, it is essential that more border crossings are opened,” he said. “It is also essential to secure the distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Hamas also has a responsibility here as well as the Israeli army.”
     Wagner said it was important to obtain the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and to keep open the prospect of a political solution to the conflict.
     Later Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated that demand and said that “the terror organization Hamas must finally release all the remaining hostages and agree to a long-term cease-fire."
     “At the same time, Israel must finally secure humanitarian supplies for the desperate people in Gaza,” he added. "Four hundred to five hundred truckloads of aid is needed every day, and it is the responsibility of the Israeli government to ensure that these deliveries arrive.”
     Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, supports a revival of talks that could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It has so far ruled out joining Norway, Ireland and Spain in recognizing Palestinian statehood, arguing that such a step should be part of the political process.
    
     THE BODIES OF THREE HOSTAGES ARE RECOVERED FROM GAZA, ISRAELI ARMY SAYS
     TEL AVIV, Israel — The bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7 were recovered overnight from Gaza, Israel's army said Friday.
     The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux were found and their families have been notified. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
     The announcement comes less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on October 7.
     Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the October 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
     Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
    
     INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE WILL RULE ON SOUTH AFRICA'S PLEA TO ORDER ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM GAZA
     THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The top United Nations court is ruling Friday on an urgent plea by South Africa to order Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza and withdraw from the enclave.
     Israel is unlikely to comply with any such order. Even so, a cease-fire order by judges of the International Court of Justice would heap more pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel as it continues its military assault on Gaza following the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas-led militants.
     Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under heavy pressure at home to end the war. Thousands of Israelis have joined weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to bring home Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity, fearing that time is running out.
     The International Court of Justice has broad powers to order a cease-fire and other measures, but it does not have its own enforcement apparatus.
     Friday's ruling comes just days after the prosecutor of another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, as well as Israel's defense minister and three Hamas leaders. (AP) NPK
NPK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)