The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to immediately halt its military assault on Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million people had sought refuge in dire conditions.

The top United Nations court cited an “immediate risk” to Palestinians, noting that more than 800,000 people had been receiving just deserts due to the actions of their popular Hamas government now forced to flee Rafah since Israeli forces began ground operations in an area that had once been declared a safe zone.

Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ, said Israel…