The top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire for the enclave.

While Israel is unlikely to comply with the order, the order ratchets up pressure on the increasingly isolated country.

International Court of Justice president Nawaf Salam, calling the humanitarian situation in Rafah as "exceptionally grave," read the ruling as a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the court in The Hague.

Although the court has broad powers to order an end to the Israeli military campaign and any such ruling would be a blow to Israel's international standing, it does not have a police force to enforce its orders. Russia, for example, has ignored a ruling from the same court to to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Attacks on Oct. 7 in southern Israel led by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by several Western nations including Canada, killed around 1,200 people. Several of the dead were Canadian citizens.

Israel has said the operation in Rafah is necessary to continue to degrade the capabilities of Hamas and free dozens of hostages still believed to be held there. Ahead of the ruling, an Israeli government spokesperson said that "no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza."

Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition and often critical of Benjamin Netanyahu's goverment, derided the decision.

"The fact that the ICJ did not even directly connect the end of the military operation in Rafah to the release of the hostages and to Israel's right to defend itself against terror is an abject moral failure," he said.

Opening of Rafah crossing urged

Israel's offensive since the war began has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and has caused a humanitarian crisis and a near-famine.

Fears the court expressed earlier this year about an operation in Rafah have "materialized," the ruling said, and Israel must "immediately halt its military offensive" in the city and anything else that might result in conditions that could cause the "physical destruction in whole or in part" of Palestinians there.

WATCH l The entire ICJ ruling and explanation:

ICJ rules on request to order Israel to halt Gaza offensive

The International Court of Justice is expected to issue a decision on South Africa's request to order Israel to cease its military operations in Gaza.

Rafah is in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. More than one million people sought refuge there in recent months after fleeing fighting elsewhere, with many of them are living in teeming tent camps.

Israel has been vowing for months to invade Rafah, saying it was Hamas's last major stronghold, even as several allies warned an all-out assault would spell disaster.

Israel started issuing evacuation orders about two weeks ago as it began operations on the edge of the city, but the court said it found evacuation and humanitarian plans were not sufficient.

Since then, the army says an estimated one million people have left as forces press deeper inside. Rafah is also home to a critical crossing for aid, and the UN says the flow of aid reaching it has plunged since the incursion began, though commercial trucking has continued to enter Gaza.

Order 'underlines the gravity of the situation'

The UN court on Friday ordered Israel to keep the Rafah crossing into Egypt open "for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance."

The court's order "underlines the gravity of the situation facing Palestinians in Gaza, who have for months endured the blocking of basic services and humanitarian aid amid continued fighting," said Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. "The ICJ's decision opens up the possibility for relief, but only if governments use their leverage, including through arms embargoes and targeted sanctions, to press Israel to urgently enforce the court's measures."

The ceasefire request is part of a case filed by South Africa late last year, accusing Israel of committing genocide during its Gaza campaign. Israel vehemently denies the allegations. The case will take years to resolve, but South Africa wants interim orders to protect Palestinians while the legal wrangling continues.

In January, ICJ judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive. In a second order in March, the court said Israel must take measures to improve the humanitarian situation.

The court also ruled Friday that Israel must ensure access for any fact-finding or investigative mission sent by the UN to assess the genocide allegations.

The ICJ rules in disputes between nations. A few kilometres away, the International Criminal Court files charges against individuals it considers most responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

On Monday, the ICC's chief prosecutors asked its judges to approve arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three top Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.