Hamas hailed the UN top court’s ruling for Israel to immediately halt its Rafah offensive but criticised its decision to exclude the rest of Gaza from the order, AFP reports.

The Palestinian fighter group “welcomes the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)”, it said in a statement, adding however that it expected the ICJ ruling to “put an end to the aggression and genocide against our people throughout the Gaza Strip, and not just in Rafah”.