UN's top court orders Israel to halt military offensive in Rafah

• The court noted that circumstances in Rafah had deteriorated further since the ICJ's last ruling in March, and that the provisional measures that the ICJ instructed at the time no longer cover current circumstances.
• Known as the World Court, the ICJ issues rulings that are final and without appeal, but that the court cannot directly enforce.
• Its pronouncements nevertheless deal heavy reputational blows and risk deepening Israel's international isolation, amid growing concerns abroad over the proportionality of its response in the Gaza conflict.

The U.N.'s top court, the International Court of Justice, on Friday ordered Israel to cease its military offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, citing concerns over the safety of Palestinian civilians.

"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," ICJ President Nawaf Salam said.

The court noted that conditions in Rafah had deteriorated further since the ICJ's last ruling in March, and that the provisional measures that the ICJ instructed at the time no longer cover current circumstances.

The court further found that evacuation and other measures undertaken by Israel in Rafah were not sufficient.

"Israel must take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent order of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide," the ruling said, qualifying a "catastrophic" situation in the Gaza enclave.

CNBC has reached out to the Israeli prime minister's