Türkiye welcomes the International Court of Justice's decision ordering Israel to immediately halt attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
In a statement, the ministry said Ankara expects Israel to immediately comply with all decisions made by the top world court.
Noting that no country is above the law, the ministry said Türkiye also calls on the U.N. Security Council to fulfill its responsibility to ensure that the decisions of the ICJ are implemented.
The order by the ICJ further ratchets up international pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel to rein in its war on Hamas in Gaza.
Friday’s decision marked the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza. While orders are legally binding, the court has no police to enforce them.
Criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing – even from its closest ally, the United States, which warned against an invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter from fighting elsewhere.
And this week alone, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for another U.N. court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials.
While the International Court of Justice has broad powers to order an end to the Israeli military campaign and any such ruling would be a blow to Israel's international standing, it does not have a police force to enforce its orders.
Israeli forces intensified military strikes on Gaza on Friday, with heavy fighting reported in Jabalia in the north and tanks advancing further into Rafah in the south, according to residents and medics.
Medics said at least five Palestinians were killed when houses were hit in Jabalia and more were believed to be trapped under rubble, but that the area could not be reached due to the intensity of the bombardment.
In the southern city of Rafah bordering Egypt, where an escalating Israeli assault has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from what was one of the few remaining places of refuge, residents reported explosions and smoke rising in the distance as tanks advanced further into the east.
Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.
