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america." s israel criticizes an order from the u.n.'s top court. the u.s. announces another major package of military aid for ukraine as president zelenskyy claims against along the front lines. kenya's president sits down with the bbc as he wra up his visit to washington. welcome to "world news america." we start with a decision that has been welcomed by several. countries and rejected by israel. the united nations' announced israel must halt its offensive in rafah. the court of south africa has uploaded the ruling and said it plans to approach the u.n. security council with the order. the icj has no enforcement powers and it is up to states to

listen to rulings. the court reiterated its call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages in gaza. our correspondent sent this update. >> this is a hugely striking order that goes further than any other provisional measures issued in this case by the judges. it seeks to significantly alter the course of the conflict in gaza. let's have a look at what the judges have ordered israel to do. 1, halt the military offensive in rafah immediately. allow unimpeded access to fact-finding missions, any u.n. mandated investigators so allegations of genocide can be investigated. israel must also, accorng to these provisional measures, ensure the rafah border crossing stays open to allow a urgently needed humanitarian aid to be

delivered at scale. and must report back to the international court of justice within one month on how these orders are being implemented. >> israel rejected south africa's allegations, signaling it will ignore any order to halt its military offensive in rafah. our middle is turned correspondent sent this report from jerusalem. >> israel's soldierse been ordered to push into rafah. israel's leaders have been ordered to stop. footage from both sides shows the fighting as israeli troops edge closer to the city center. the u.n.'s highest court today focused on civilians. those still there and the hundred thousand who have fled. >> they must immediately halt the military offensive and any other action in rafah which may

inflict on the group in gaza -- that could bring about destruction. >> israel says this is a precise and limited operation. satellite pictures of rafah show the destruction less than two weeks after the assault. today, israel's army said it recovered the bodies of three hostages from northern gaza. one member of thwar cabinet said israel has to keep fighting to return its hostages and safeguarded citizens and will continue to act according to international law. foreign criticism of israel's action in gaza is growing but prime minister benjamin get yahoo! is comfortable being seen as the staunch defender of israel security under siege. >> i do not think he is a war criminal.

it is easy to sit miles away and criticize what is happening. do we have a better alternative? >> i do not care what people think about us. if we care about what people think, we should stop the war? no. we are here, we are israel. it is important to us to have support and we do not get it. >> the rafah offensive has blocked key aid routes. supplies brought in by a new u.s. pier. the court ordered israel to reopen the rafah crossing. two sides driven by promises to protect civilians. gazans and israelis. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. >> we can speak now to an associate professor. great to have you back on the show. i want to start by asking you about this icjuling. can you help us understand what

it means to be legally binding if there is no enforcement mechanism? >> that is a very important distinction. the decisions of the icj are binding on all members and the court has a high level of legitimacy with all mber states of the u.n., 193 members. it means decisions of the court directed in this case toward israel also are important for the decisions of other countries who might be israeli allies, for example, or suppliers of arms to israel. the legitimacy of the court enforces the moral authority of the u.n. and moral authority of international law in criticizing this military offensive. >> what is it asking other members to do if it is intended to send a message? >> it is intended to send a message about the urgency of the

situation and the threat on civilian life. the risk of genocide being carried out. it puts other states in a position of questioning their continued support, questioning their amount of political pressure that they might be able to apply to israel to call for a halt to the offensive. this binding provisional order is verimportant. when israel does not abide by the order, perhaps if they do not abide by it, they have not abided by some of the other provisional orders, it is another example of how israel may end up being in a situation of violating international law. the military action and the grounds they have to defend w they are doing what they are carrying out. >> i want to ask you about the language because the presiding

judge said israel must immediately stop any action in rafah which could bring about the physical destruction of the palestinians. that appears to be alluding to what constitutes genocide under international law. in january the icj did not decide there was a plausible case for genocide. it said the palestinians had the right to be protected from genocide. what exactly is the court saying? >> the decision of the court, whether or not genocide is being perpetrated, is pending. we have to wait for the -- case to go to merits. it would take years to be definitive. we are seeing there is a plausible rest that prejudice is being perpetrated against her rights of the palestinians to be protected from genocide. that is an important distinction and an important highlight. it means the court recognizes there is a danger of these

rights are being violated by the current military actions. they are recognizing this is a possibility. that is why they are able to bring this case under the genocide convention, which of course is one of the important elements of this case. >> i want to ask you about what israel has said. it said it has gone to great lengths to ensure civilians are out of harms' way. we have also heard that hundreds of commercial trucks has entered this trip in the last few weeks. why are we seeing this ruling come now in light of what we are seeing on the ground? >> israel did lay out details very well in its defense when there was an order in the court to weeks ago or last week. what they are trying to do is show they are abiding by previous provisional measures.

they are keeping some of the crossing open and allowing some aid in. the court is saying -- an argument that this situation has become more urgent. it is a catastrophic humanitarian situation in terms of the loss of civilian life. also due to the low supply of food, sanitation equipment and all the other things. israel is not allowing enough of this aid through. >> thank you so much for your analysis. we appreciate it. we have heard the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza is severely restricted by the closure of two crossing points. friday at them across of u.s. president joe biden, egypt agreed to resume some deliveries of supplies until an agreement is reached to reopen the rafah

crossing. for more on this including the u.s.'s reaction, we speak to a senior policy advisor for the middle east peace process who is now a senior fellow at johns hopkins. always good to have you on the program. we have not heard an official response from the u.s. but what implication do you think this ruling has for the u.s. especially in terms of sending military aid to israel? >> the court cannot enforce this ruling but america can. you heard from netanyahu and the israelis, they would rather be alive and hated than dad and loved. if the hate translates into a weapons hall, which biden has control over, you will see a change in behavior. the administration can use the leverage over israel to keep the rafah invasion limited. biden picked up the phone today

but did not call netanyahu, he did not have to. he knows eyes were watching. he called the president of egypt and said open up the border so we can get the desperately needed a in two keep civilians fed and cared for while this operation takes forward and rafah. >> we know israel has strongly rejected the ruling from the icj but critics say this is further proof israel is increasingly isolated on the global stage. what impact do you think it has the prime minister netanyahu that he is receiving criticism and this ruling? >> gaza is under military siege. israel is under diplomatic siege. that said, rafah has always been about redlines. for us it was a redlined about not doing and with major maneuvers but the israelisre seeing red, as well. this all the bloodied faces of

19-year-old female soldiers being bound and taken hostage into gaza. the blood they are seeing, the red they are seeing are three dead hostages. the was an awful clip released of a father and son palestinian who came on october 7 admitting they raped and murdered an israeli woman. they have their own redlines. that is why biden is working hard for the hostage release. that was a second good piece of news that came out of his, with the president in egypt. they are looking at new initiative for a hostage deal. >> what about what is happening in rafah right now? people said after the icj ruling there were fresh strikes by war planes in the southern part of gaza. is israel's operation in gaza already at scale? >> sometimes when i see these large-scale bombings whether it is in the north or in rafah, i

wonder if israel is just trying to get in their last blast before they pull back. they understand they will have to moderate the attack so they are trying to blast through. they claimed they killed a major battalion commander this morning with bombs. sometimes i think it is almost like a fireworks display where you go big and then cut it off. >> in the u.s., we have seen the speaker of the house my johnson city israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will announce a joint session of congress. what do you think of this? >> i am glad you mentioned it. biden earned his summer vacation at the beach this weekend -- it is memorial day weekend -- but there is trouble on tuesday when he comes back to work. the speaker has invited netanyahu. he addressed congress and it was terrible last time under president obama during the iran

negotiations for a nuclear deal and it split the democratic party and embarrassed president obama at the time. that is problematic. >> the aid pier, not sure if that is working. are the able to distribute aid? it is not clear. the israeli war cabinet is talking about the saudi megadeal which the biden administration is pushing. they are saying we will see if we can get it done before november. that could have been biden's signature move and we are not sure we will get there. >> thank you for your analysis. >> thank you. >> moving on to other news. russian preside vladimir putin is continuing to reinforce ties with autocratic leaders. after visiting china and with a trip to north korea in the making mr. putin visited a close ally in belarus. russia has been conducting nuclear drills with belarus. putin announced plans to station

tactical nuclear weapons there. he said the recent drills are something russia does on a regular basis and the only difference is these include ben israel -- include belarus. speaking with putin at a meeting he emphasized his desire to both are a so-called union state with russia. >> it is necessary to promptly complete the formation of a unified industrial policy of the union state. both sides will benefit. many of our assembly lines work using each other's components. we need to protect ourselves from those who have imposed sanctions against us. >> belarus has been supportive of russia's invasion of ukraine from the start, it allowed russian troops to enter ukraine from its territory in 2022. president puti said peace talks with ukraine should be reviewed new but he would not engage with president volodymyr zelenskyy, who he called an illegitimate leader.

russian forces continue their offensive in ukraine's northeast, president zelenskyy visited the front lines were a printing complex suffered heavy damage. he said ukrainian troops have seized control. for more on the latest developments in ukraine and the russian president's latest comments, our correspondent sent us this report. >> we are seeing president zelenskyy spend more time in this northeastern city which is experiencing airstrikes more and more. has announced plans to help the estimated 20,000 or so people who have been displaced and the surrounding region. this is a president who has extended his term despite it officially ending. why? ukraine is in a state of martial law. that cannot be elections held at the moment. there is parliamentary support for that.

nevertheless, vladimir putin on a visit to belarus to meet his ally, the country's leader, has jumped on this, saying the legitimacy of volodymyr zelenskyy's leadership has ended. there are a couple of ironies for ukrainians. first of all the baseless claim by vladimir putin that the country is run by nazis. it seems that vladimir putin must have seen him as legitimate and one point but vladimir putin just won a presidential election in russia where his main rivals are either in prison or dead. it is an irony that will not be lost on ukrainians. >> on friday the u.s. announced an additional $275 million in military aid to ukraine. the white house is calling for the swift deployment of a kenyan led force after three missionaries were killed. a state politician confirmed his

daughter and son-in-law were killed by gang members in port-au-prince. a u.s. national security spokesperson expressed condolences sing the security situation in haiti cannot wait. president joe biden pledged for the expedited deployment of forces. the kenyan president is on a state visit. he was asked about the plans for kenyan forces in haiti. >> i have a team already in haiti as i speak to you. i spoke with them this morning. they are finishing a mission tomorrow. that would give us a frame of what things look like on the ground, capabilities that are available. once we have that assessment, we agreed with the haitian police that leadership -- we are looking on the horizon at three weeks for us to be ready to

deploy. >> we will have more from the interview for you at the top of the next hour and the full hour interview will be on our website. next week people across south africa had to the pools 30 years after the nation's first democratic election. fergal keane reported at the time and has returned to the country to see what has changed. he sent this report from johannesburg. ♪ fergal: it was one of those rare shining moments. >> the end of the order of racial discrimination, of segregation. the end of the age of pain and civility a should -- humiliation. fergal: a significant story unfolding. >> white rule on the confident nest on the continent of africa came to an end. fergal: history shuffled forward with the promise of equality and justice for all. ♪

30 years later, loud and energetic, democracy has endured. the ruling anc talks of promises delivered on housing and services. but it has presided over massive corruption. >> it is dawn on the margins of existence. fergal: in 1994 they hope for a different south africa. hopes i heard from the poor of this water camps. >> i want to live in a nice house with my children. i am suffering. fergal: a single mother, cynthia, scavenged for tin cans which she sold to feed her seven children. >> i must work very hard. fergal: now as south africa

prepares to vote, i have come back to nd out what has happened to cynthia and her hopes. i greet her in a rural area, which she came to escape the crying of the squatter camps. but cynthia, now 78, is blind and ill. it is me. you cannot see me at the moment but you can hear me. she has a house, built by her children, not the state. no running water, frequent power cuts. what do you think of how the country is now? cynthia: there is no life in south africa. fergal: cynthia escape from this. but apartheid's gacy of poverty. her son was shot by criminals

and cannot find a job. also among the 30% of unemployed people. they survived because she set up her own small shop and helps everyone else. i want to show you something that you have never seen. they asked us to see the old film of their lives. >> must work very hard. fergal: their reaction, the measure of what has been endured. >> things are better now. but it is still hard. my mother, i want to thank this lady. because of her, i am who i am. mom, i love you and i want to be like you. >> by midmorning there is almost nothing left. fergal: back in 1994, cynthia's

shack was demolished. forward to now, a few kilometers from where i first met her, the destroyed shacks of a new generation. the homeless and the world's most unequal society. where the top 10% own 86% of the wealth. this land is slated for development, including houses for the poor, but the waiting is long. in the meantime, shotguns keep trespassers at bay. >> the people can say vote for me always. i am not going to vote. i will stay-at-home. ♪ [singing] ♪ fergal: the generations of women.

like so many of this nation's poor when elections have come and gone, will be holding their families and country together. fergal keane, bbc news, south africa. >> before we go, in paris, the notre dame cathedral's famous cross has been unveiled after -- they collapsed in between 19 fire. many works of art and relics were moved but others were destroyed. now the 12 meter tall cross has been reinstalled on notre dame's roof. it is a significant moment. thank you for watching "world news america." stay with bbc news. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

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