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UK News Outlets Distort International Court Ruling to Demonize Israel
A general view inside the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the start of a hearing where South Africa requests new emergency measures over Israel’s operations in Rafah, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
A May 25 article in the Financial Times on an emergency ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as part of South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide, erred in both the headline, “Top UN Court Orders Israel to Halt Rafah Offensive,” and in the opening sentence:
“The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to ‘immediately halt’ its military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gazan city that had become a refuge for more than 1mn civilians since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted last year.” [emphasis added]
Crucially, as noted in an analysis of the decision by our colleague David Litman, the wording narrowly ordered Israel on Friday to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” [emphasis added]
The ambiguity of the ICJ verdict’s wording, as well as the qualifying language, such as “that could bring…”, was interpreted by four ICJ judges as a limited order instructing the IDF to abide by the Genocide Convention during its activities in Rafah, but not requiring a complete halt to military operations there.
“The measure is a qualified one, which preserves Israel’s right to prevent and repel threats and attacks by Hamas, defend itself and its citizens, and free the hostages,” Aharon Barak, the ad-hoc judge representing Israel at the International Court of Justice, wrote in his minority opinion regarding the decision of the majority judges.
“The measure obliging Israel to halt the current military offensive in Rafah is conditioned by the need to prevent ‘conditions of life that could bring about [the] physical destruction in whole or in part’ of the Palestinian group in Gaza. Thus, this measure does not concern other actions of Israel which do not give rise to such a risk,” wrote German judge Georg Nolte, who joined the majority judges.
This position was also supported by Romanian Judge Bogdan Aurescu and Judge Sebutinde.
The only judge who expressed a contrary position is the South African ad-hoc judge, Dire Tladi,
The Financial Times article errs again, when it states, “The court also ordered Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt…” — neglecting the fact that it’s Egypt, and not Israel, which is keeping the Rafah closing closed, a decision which elicited a rare rebuke of Cairo by US officials.
In fact, after communication with CAMERA’s Israel office, Haaretz corrected an article which included that same false claim.
But it’s not just the Financial Times that grossly misled readers. Most British outlets, in fact, made the same error:
The Guardian promoted the same inaccuracy in a May 24 article, in both the headline, “UN’s top court orders Israel to immediately halt Rafah offensive,” and the text:
The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to halt its assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in a ruling that will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country.
A May 24 article in The Times similarly got it wrong, also in the headline (“International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive”), and the opening sentence:
The United Nations’ top court has ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah in the latest in a string of diplomatic and legal moves against the country.
Sky News similarly erred in a May 24 article — in the headline, “International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive,” and the opening sentence:
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to stop its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Channel 4 News also erred in a May 24 report, in both the headline, “UN top court orders Israel to ‘immediately’ halt Rafah offensive,” and the first sentence:
The UN’s international court of justice has ordered Israel to halt its military offensive around Rafah in southern Gaza with immediate effect.
Finally, the Daily Mail similarly got it wrong in a May 25 article, in both the wording of the headline, “Israel pummels Gaza including Rafah just a DAY after top UN court ordered IDF to halt its invasion of the southern city,” and in the opening sentences:
Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, just one day after the top UN court ordered the IDF to halt its military operations in the southern city.
…
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded the immediate release of all hostages still held by Palestinian militants hours after the Israeli military announced troops had recovered the bodies of three more of the captives from northern Gaza.
We’ll be complaining to these media outlets about their grossly misleading characterizations of the ICJ ruling.
Adam Levick serves as co-editor of CAMERA UK – an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post UK News Outlets Distort International Court Ruling to Demonize Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.