WASHINGTON

US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) "can go to hell" after the top UN court ordered Israel to "immediately" halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

"As far as I’m concerned, the ICJ can go to hell. It is long past time to stand up to these so-called international justice organizations associated with the UN. Their anti-Israel bias is overwhelming," Graham, a Republican, said on X.

His remarks came after the ICJ also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to let in humanitarian aid.

"The ICJ’s ruling that Israel should stop operations that are necessary to destroy four battalions of Hamas killers and terrorists - who use Palestinians as human shields - is ridiculous. This will and should be ignored by Israel," Graham wrote.

While the ruling was welcomed by many countries in the world, including South Africa which filed a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ over the Gaza war, Israel immediately slammed the decision. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to discuss the decision with senior ministers on Friday by phone, according to local media.

Israel has so far killed more than 35,800 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas that claimed 1,200 lives last October.

The operation has leveled most of the territory and created a humanitarian crisis. Despite concerns over the safety of civilians, Israeli forces invaded on May 6 Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had taken refuge. Since the assault, at least 800,000 people have fled the city.