In an interim ruling, the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled on Friday that Israel must take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, but failed to order an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas. The ICJ ruled that it had jurisdiction to review the landmark case brought by South Africa against Israel and rejected Israel's request to dismiss the case.
In a statement released shortly after the court ruling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the genocide allegations against his country “not only false, but also outrageous.”
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South Africa claims that “acts and omissions” committed by Israel as part of its offensive in Gaza “are genocidal in nature because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a significant part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
The court's president, Joan E. Donoghue, said Friday at the court in The Hague, Netherlands, that based on an initial assessment of Israel's actions and comments by Israeli leaders, she would not accept Israel's request to dismiss the case because it There are plausible allegations of possible acts of genocide. The ICJ did not order an immediate ceasefire, but ordered Israel to take some interim measures.
First, the court said Israel must “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts under Article II of the (Genocide) Convention” and “ensure, with immediate effect, that its military does not commit any of the acts described.” “. to the extent mentioned above. It said Israel must do everything in its power to ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of genocide.
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The court also said Israel must “take all measures in its power to prevent and punish direct and public incitement to genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip” and “take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision” . Providing urgently needed essential services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions facing Palestinians in Gaza.
Finally, the court ordered Israel to submit to it a report “on all measures taken to implement this order” within a month.
South Africa filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice in December, seeking an interim order from the court to allow Israel to immediately end its military operations in Gaza.
However, according to Cathy Powell, professor of public law at the University of Cape Town, such an order would have been surprising “because no one has disputed that we are dealing with an armed conflict” and the one-sided nature of this conflict between one nation and one widely recognized terrorist group.
She said the South African legal team did an “excellent job in presenting their arguments” but “what they didn't do was examine the relationship between two parties in armed conflicts, where you tie the hands of one party who commits to the conflict.” committed to genocide.” Convention if you have no say about the other non-signatory party, Hamas.”
The International Court of Justice is the supreme court of the United Nations and its rulings are binding, but it has no power to enforce them.
Israel reacts to the International Court of Justice ruling
Israel has firmly rejected the accusation of genocide and formally requested dismissal of the case earlier this month.
Israeli leaders have insisted since the war began that the country was acting within its right to self-defense. Netanyahu previously accused South Africa of “brazen impudence” in filing the lawsuit, which he dismissed as a “false and unfounded” defense of Hamas.
“Israel’s commitment to international law is unshakable. Equally unshakable is our sacred commitment to continue to defend our country and our people,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Friday in response to the interim decision.
“The accusation of genocide leveled against Israel is not only false, it is outrageous, and decent people everywhere should reject it,” Netanyahu said. “Our war is against Hamas terrorists, not Palestinian civilians. We will continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance and do our utmost to keep civilians out of harm's way, even as Hamas uses civilians as human shields. We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country and our people.”
Israel has said its military is taking a number of measures to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, including dropping leaflets warning of impending attacks, making telephone calls to civilians to urge them to leave buildings under attack, and the Canceling some attacks when Gaza civilians are away.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that Israel “does not need to be lectured on morality to distinguish between terrorists and the civilian population in Gaza,” adding: “Those who seek justice will not find it in the leather chairs” of the court chambers in The Hague.”
“The IDF and security agencies will continue to work to dismantle the military and government capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization and return the hostages to their homes,” Gallant said.
The Palestinians and South Africa react
“The judges of the International Court of Justice assessed the facts and the law and ruled in favor of humanity and international law,” Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, said in response to the interim decision, according to Portal news agency.
South Africa's international relations minister, Naledi Pandor, said despite the lack of a ceasefire order, the interim decision would require a pause in fighting in Gaza.
“How do you provide aid and water without a ceasefire? If you read the order, implicitly there must be a ceasefire,” Pandor told the court.
The Israel-Hamas war
On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping about 240 others. Israel immediately launched a counteroffensive against the group in Gaza with the stated goal of destroying it. According to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory, that offensive killed over 26,000 people, mostly women and children. Hamas, long classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, has ruled Gaza since the 1990s.
In its ruling on Friday, the ICJ said it was “deeply concerned about the fate of the hostages kidnapped during the attack in Israel on October 7, 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.”
In its application to the court, South Africa accuses Israel of “killing Palestinians in Gaza, inflicting severe physical and mental harm on them and imposing living conditions on them that are likely to bring about their physical destruction.” It also said that Israel “continues to violate its other fundamental obligations under the Genocide Convention, including by failing to prevent or punish direct and public incitement to genocide by senior Israeli officials and others.”
The International Court of Justice and the Crime of Genocide
The United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention in 1948 after the Holocaust. It defines “genocide” as any single act “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” These actions include:
- Kill members of the group
- Causing serious physical or mental harm to members of the group
- Deliberately imposing living conditions on the group designed to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part
- Enforcing measures to prevent births within the group
- Forced transfer of children from the group to another group
The International Court of Justice is a civil court and generally decides on disputes between UN member states. Although its decisions are binding, the fact that it has no way of enforcing its decisions means that countries can get away with ignoring them, such as in the case of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, the ICJ ruled that Russia “must immediately cease the military operations it began on February 24, 2022 on the territory of Ukraine” after the Ukrainian government filed a lawsuit alleging that the Russian military also committed genocide. The fighting in Ukraine continues.
Michal Ben-Gal in Tel Aviv, Anhelina Shamlii in London and Pamela Falk at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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