ICJ orders Israel to take emergency measures to prevent genocide in Gaza

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling on Friday directing Israel to implement all emergency measures requested by South Africa in the genocide case related to its war on the Gaza Strip. “The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” Joan E. Donoghue, the court’s president, said. The court in The Hague, Netherlands, ordered a total of six provisional measures on Friday as it considers the genocide charges that South Africa brought against Israel. South Africa requested interim steps since the proceedings could take several years. Court President Joan E. Donoghue said there were enough elements in South Africa’s arguments to continue the genocide case but that Israeli troops had to do much more in the meantime to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza. She said the court was “of the view that Israel must take measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide.” The court’s decision included a directive for Israel to permit the entry of basic services and humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa brought the case, which goes to the core of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, and had asked the court to order Israel to halt its operation. Friday’s decision is only an interim one; it could take years for the full case brought by South Africa to be considered. Israel rejects the genocide accusation and had asked the court to throw the charges out. While the case winds its way through the court, South Africa has asked the judges “as a matter of extreme urgency” to impose provisional measures. Top of the South African list was a request for the court to order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.” But the court declined to do that. South Africa also asked for Israel to take “reasonable measures” to prevent genocide and allow access for desperately needed aid. The court ruled that Israel must try to limit death and damage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will “continue to do what is necessary” to defend itself, following a ruling from the top U.N. court that harshly criticized Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But it demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage in its military offensive in the tiny coastal enclave. Netanyahu rejected the genocide claims as “outrageous” and vowed to press ahead with the war. “We will continue to do what is necessary to defend out country and defend our people,” he said. In a statement Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said he hoped the decision would “include immediate action to stop the aggression and genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip … and a rapid flow of relief aid to save the hungry, wounded and sick from the threat of slow death that threatens them.” Israel launched its massive air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas militants stormed through Israeli communities on Oct. 7 killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting another 250. The offensive has decimated vast swaths of the territory and driven nearly 85% of its 2.3 million people from their homes. More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave said on Friday. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its death toll, but has said about two-thirds of those killed were women and children. The Israeli military claims at least 9,000 of those killed in the nearly four-month conflict are Hamas militants. South Africa’s own identity is key to it bringing the case. Its governing party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Black people to “homelands” before ending in 1994. With inputs from agencies.