The United Nations' top court has ordered the Israeli regime to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. The judges have not ruled on the merits of the genocide allegations, which may take years to decide.
The International Court of Justice delivered on Friday its interim ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip.
The court said Israel must ensure its forces do not commit genocide and also ensure the preservation of evidence of alleged genocide, ordering the regime to report back in one month.
Palestinians appear to be a protected group under the genocide convention, the court said, noting that it has jurisdiction to rule in the case.
Friday's ruling at the ICJ did not deal with the core accusation of the case – whether genocide occurred – but focused on the urgent intervention sought by South Africa, which according to activists has claimed the mantle of the moral and ethical leadership of the world.
The ICJ demanded Israel to try to contain death and damage in the Gaza Strip but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.
The court also ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Israel must take immediate, effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, the court says.
The court obliges Israel to take more measures to protect Palestinians but does not order it to end military operations in the Strip.
The ICJ's rulings are final and without appeal, but it has no way of enforcing them.
South Africa filed the lawsuit against Israel at the end of December, noting that Israel’s actions are “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
The application also said Israeli attacks breach the UN’s Genocide Convention, and urged the court to “order Israel to cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza.”
South Africa has been one of the outspoken critics of Israel’s ongoing onslaught against Palestinians and has led some initiatives to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.
Israel launched hostilities in Gaza following a historic operation by the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. More than 100 days into the campaign, the regime has achieved no objectives despite killing at least 26,083 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women and children.
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