The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in a ruling that could have far-reaching consequences.
The United Nations’ top court stopped short of ordering the ceasefire. An overwhelming majority of the 17 judges presiding the case voted on Friday (January 26, 2024) for emergency measures to be implemented.
The ICJ case marks the first time Israel has been brought before the court on accusations of violating the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, which was drafted in part due to the mass killings of Jewish people in the Holocaust during the Second World War.
South Africa’s genocide case against Israel
South Africa brought the case to the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide. Israel rejects the claim and the United States and Israel have dismissed the case.
South Africa filed a legal case against Israel in response to Israel’s devastating military offensive in Gaza triggered by Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. More than 25,000 Palestinians, including about 10,000 children, have been killed by Israel during its relentless attacks in the Gaza Strip for more than 100 days now.
Several countries and organizations including Turkiye, Jordan, Bolivia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Maldives, Namibia, Columbia, and members of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) backed South Africa’s suit.
Welcomed the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ against Israel, South Africa’s government said: “Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people.”
Top UN court says Israel must take ‘all measures’ to prevent genocide in Gaza
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip — a narrow strip of land which is home to roughly 2.3 million Palestinians.
“The catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is at serious risk of deteriorating further before the court renders its final judgment,” Judge Joan Donoghue, the ICJ’s president, said Friday.
6 measures UN Court ordered Israel on its operation in Gaza
Delivering its interim ruling, the court ordered six provisional measures.
- The court ordered Israel to “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope” of the UN convention on genocide. Referring to protecting Palestinian civilians, the court said Israel should work to prevent “killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.” Approved in a 15-2 vote.
- By 15 votes to 2m the court ordered Israel to “ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described in point 1 above.”
- The court said Israel “shall take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.” Approved in a 16-1 vote.
- In a 16-1 vote, Israel was ordered to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
- The court ordered Israel to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope” of the relevant articles in the genocide convention. Approved in a 15-2 vote.
- By 15 votes to 2, the court said Israel “shall submit a report to the court on all measures taken to give effect to this order within one month as from the date of this order.”
Palestine welcomes ruling saying ‘no state is above the law’
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed said the decision which it said was a reminder that “no state is above the law or beyond the reach of justice”.
Riyadh al-Maliki, Palestinian minister of foreign affairs, issued a statement saying that the ICJ ruling “breaks Israel’s entrenched culture of criminality and impunity, which has characterized its decades-long occupation, dispossession, persecution, and apartheid in Palestine. Israel failed to convince the Court that it was not violating the Genocide Convention”.
Palestine authorities called on all states to ensure respect for the order of the International Court of Justice and ensure they are not complicit in this genocide by halting arms trade with Israel.
Palestinian minister of foreign affairs, expressed deep gratitude for South Africa. “The Palestinian people and leadership will be forever grateful to the people and government of South Africa for taking this bold step of active solidarity. We are also grateful to the millions of people who have not stopped taking to the streets around the world to protest the genocide and champion Palestinian rights to life and freedom”, he said.
Israel’s reaction
Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations of genocide, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the accusations “false” and “outrageous”.
Netanyahu appeared defiant in his reaction to the ICJ decision to proceed with the genocide case against Israel. “We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country,” he said.
Despite the ICJ ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians, many Israelis hailed the ruling as a win for the Jewish state. “The most dramatic thing is that no ceasefire was ordered,” Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the international law department at Israel’s Haifa University, told media. Israeli expert feared that a potential ceasefire order could be devastating for Israel as over a hundred hostages remain in Gaza.
Though the court has no power to enforce its ruling, the verdict is a legal setback for Israel, which faces additional pressure from the international community to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza and prevent its forces from carrying out genocide against Palestinians.