Watch live: International Court of Justice rules on Israel’s offensive in Rafah

Watch live on Friday (24 May) as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules on Israel’s offensive in Rafah.

Judges at the U.N.’s top court are set to rule on an emergency request to order Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave, in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.

A small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrived outside the court in The Hague, waving flags and playing a rap on a boom box calling for a free Palestine.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case’s accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defence and targeted at Hamas militants who attacked Israel on l7 October.

An Israeli government spokesman said on the eve of Friday’s decision that “no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza”.

Israel launched its assault on the southern city of Rafah this month, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee a city that had become a refuge to around half of the population’s 2.3 million people.