The top U.N. court on Friday rejected a South African request to impose urgent measures to safeguard Rafah in the Gaza Strip, but also stressed that Israel must respect earlier measures imposed late last month at a preliminary stage in a landmark genocide case.

The International Court of Justice said in a statement that the "perilous situation" in Rafah "demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures" that it ordered Jan. 26.

It said no new order was necessary because the existing measures "are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah."

The world court added that Israel "remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention" and the Jan. 26 ruling which ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction, and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Citing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the court noted "the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, 'would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences.'"

Israel has identified Rafah as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza and vowed to continue its offensive there. An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, has crammed into the city, most of them displaced people who fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Israel has said it will evacuate the civilians before attacking, though international aid officials have said there is nowhere to go due to the vast devastation left behind by the offensive.