Two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately stop its assault on Rafah, Israeli warplanes began to drop bombs on refugee tent camps in what had previously been declared a “safe zone.” At least 45 people, including children and infants, were killed in the bombing. We discuss the ruling and the massacre in Rafah with Ahmed Abofoul, a legal researcher and advocacy officer at the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq who was born and raised in Gaza. Abofoul is now based in The Hague, where the International Court of Justice recently ordered Israel to halt its assault on Rafah in a genocide case brought by South Africa. Abofoul notes the significance of the World Court ruling but decries Israel’s complete disregard for international orders, including previous ICJ rulings this year. “Israel is lying,” while its allies are “parroting whatever Israel is saying.” Without a direct enforcement mechanism, attempts to rein in Israeli attacks are likely to continue to fail. Will “complicit” Western states “continue business as usual, or will we see sanctions on Israel?” Abofoul asks. “Everything I know in Gaza has been destroyed,” he adds. “This is a genocide. This is about the erasure of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and as a whole, and this is the essence of Zionism as a settler-colonial ideology.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

Israel’s bombing of the tent camp in Rafah that killed over 45 people on Sunday, housing displaced Palestinians in a so-called safe zone, came just two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately stop its assault on Rafah. This is ICJ presiding Judge Nawaf Salam.

JUDGE NAWAF SALAM: The court considers that in conformity with the obligations under the Genocide Convention, Israel must 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.

AMY GOODMAN: The order came in response to an emergency request by South Africa, which has brought a genocide case against Israel at the World Court. Though the order is legally binding, there is no enforcement mechanism.

This is Abed Mohammed al-Attar, a Palestinian man whose brother and other relatives were killed in Israel’s latest attacks on Rafah.

ABDE MOHAMMED AL-ATTAR: [translated] The decision of the World Court is a lie. They are still killing. There are planes 24 hours a day. There are martyrs and killings all the time. There are wounded and injuries, children becoming orphaned, innocent people. They haven’t done anything. They were displaced from one place to another, looking for a living.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined at The Hague by Ahmed Abofoul, senior legal research and advocacy officer at the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq. He was born and raised in Gaza.

Welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s very important to have you with us today. You know, the ruling of the International Court of Justice came down right after Democracy Now! aired on Friday. So, I’m wondering if you can start off by summarizing the ruling and the significance of it, Ahmed.

AHMED ABOFOUL: Thank you for having me again, Amy.

This is a very significant ruling. The court basically ruled that Israel must halt its military offensive on Rafah and any other acts that might endanger the Palestinian people as a group and their rights under the Genocide Convention. But the court also ruled that Israel must keep the Rafah crossing open and must allow all investigative bodies and commission of........

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