The International Court of Justice rejected on Friday South Africa's request to impose additional urgent measures to protect the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, but also emphasized that Israel must respect the previous measures imposed late last January at an initial stage, in the genocide lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel.

The United Nations court said in its statement that "the serious situation in Rafah requires the immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures ordered by the Court on January 26, 2024, which apply to the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah."

However, "the situation does not require indicating additional provisional measures" regarding Rafah, according to the court.

The court added that Israel "remains obligated to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and the aforementioned order, including ensuring the safety and security of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

On Tuesday, South Africa announced that it had filed an "urgent request" to the International Court of Justice to consider whether Israeli military operations targeting Rafah, Gaza, violate the provisional orders issued by the court last month in the genocide lawsuit.

On Thursday, Israel urged the court to reject what it described as South Africa's "extremely strange and inappropriate" request.

Israel denies committing genocide in Gaza and says it is targeting only the Hamas movement.

However, last month the court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent "death, destruction, and any acts of genocide in Gaza," but it did not go as far as issuing an order to end the attack that led to the destruction of the Palestinian territory.