SRINAGAR: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered that Israel must prevent genocide in Gaza. However, there was no order for a ceasefire as sought by South Africa, the petitioner before the UN court at the Hague, reports appearing in the international media said.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said that there was a case to be heard on whether Palestinian rights were being violated in a war that was causing grave humanitarian suffering. It also ordered Palestinian armed groups to free detainees abducted during the October 7 strikes on Israel, which sparked the conflict.
“The Court is also of the view that 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,” the ICJ ruled. It also asked Israel to prevent its forces from committing genocide, punish acts of incitement, improve the humanitarian situation, and report back in a month.
The Court asked Israel 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” and “prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II and Article III of the Genocide Convention against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.”
South Africa filed its case at the ICJ in December, seeking an interim order by the court for Israel to immediately halt its military operations in Gaza. The petition had alleged that “acts and omissions” committed by Israel as part of its offensive in Gaza ‘are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
In the 17-judge bench, two members dissented from some or most of the order. These included Israel’s ad-hoc Judge Aharon Barak and Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde. Interestingly, India’s Dalveer Bhandari voted in favour of all the provisional measures.
“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered six so-called provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza. Those measures were approved by an overwhelming majority of the judges. An Israeli judge voted in favour of two of the six,” al-Jazeera reported. “But Uganda’s Judge, Julia Sebuntinde, was the only judge who voted against all of them.” Israeli Judge Aharon Barak said he supported those orders in the hope that they would “help to decrease tensions and discourage damaging rhetoric” while easing the” consequences of the armed conflict for the most vulnerable.”
Hours after the order was out, the ambassador of Uganda to the United Nations Adoniya Ayebare dissociated from the judge. “Justice Sebutinde ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine,” the ambassador said. “She has previously voted against Uganda’s case on DRC. Uganda’s support for the plight of the Palestinian people has been expressed through Uganda ‘s voting pattern at the United Nations.”
During the trial, Israel rejected the accusation of genocide and formally sought the case’s dismissal. Israel has said its military takes several measures to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, including dropping flyers warning of upcoming attacks, calling civilians on the phone to urge them to leave buildings that will be targeted, and cancelling some strikes if civilians are in the way.
“Israel’s commitment to international law is unwavering. Equally unwavering is our sacred commitment to continue to defend our country and defend our people,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X. He continued to say that the charge of Genocide against Israel is false and outrageous. “We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country and defend our people.” Interestingly, however, Israel bombarded areas of Khan Yunis after the ICJ order.
“Those who seek justice, will not find it on the leather chairs of the court chambers in The Hague,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on the social media platform X. “The IDF and security agencies will continue operating to dismantle the military and governing capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, and to return the hostages to their homes.”
“A historic ruling by the United Nations’ top court in a genocide case against Israel on Friday was welcomed by the three main parties it involved: Israel, South Africa and the Palestinians. But at the same time, no one got what they asked for,” CNN reported. “It rejected Israel’s request for the case to be thrown out, but it also stopped short of ordering Israel to halt the war as South Africa has asked.”
The power of the ruling was magnified by its timing, coming on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. “While the ruling denied Palestinian hopes of a binding order to halt the war in Gaza, it represented a legal setback for Israel, which had hoped to throw out a case brought under the genocide convention established in the ashes of the World War Two Holocaust that targeted European Jews,” global news gatherer Reuters reported.
At least 26,257 people have been killed and 64,797 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, al-Jazeera reported. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. In the last 24 hours, after the ICJ order, “Gaza’s Health Ministry says 174 Palestinians were killed and 310 wounded”.
