In an interim judgment, the United Nations’ International Court of Justice on Friday ruled that ‘Israel’ must take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, but it stopped short of ordering an immediate cease-fire in Israeli war on Gaza. The ICJ ruled that it has jurisdiction to consider the landmark case brought by South Africa against ‘Israel’, and it rejected Israel’s request for the case to be dismissed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement issued quickly after the court’s ruling, slammed the genocide allegation as “not only false, it’s outrageous.”
South Africa says that acts and omissions committed by ‘Israel’ as part of its war on Gaza “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 court’s president Joan E. Donoghue said Friday in the court at The Hague, Netherlands, that, based on an initial assessment of Israel’s actions and remarks from Israeli leaders, it would not accept Israel’s request to dismiss the case as there were plausible claims of possible genocidal acts. The ICJ did not order an immediate cease-fire, but it did order ‘Israel’ to take some provisional measures.
First, the court said ‘Israel’ must “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the (Genocide) convention” and “ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described” in the above measure. It said ‘Israel’ must do everything it can to ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of genocide.
The court also said ‘Israel’ must “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,” and “take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions” facing Palestinians in Gaza.
Finally, the court ordered ‘Israel’ to submit a report to it “on all measures taken to give effect to this order” within a month.
“ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, ruled in favor of humanity and international law,” Riyad Al-Maliki, the Foreign Minister for the Palestinian Authority, said in response to the interim ruling, according to the Reuters news agency.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor said, despite the lack of a cease-fire order, that the interim ruling would necessitate a pause in fighting in Gaza.
“How do you provide aid and water without a cease-fire? If you read the order, by implication a cease-fire must happen,” Pandor said outside the court.
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