UN’s World Court orders Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza

THE HAGUE – The United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Jan 26 ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide as the country wages war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

In a highly anticipated ruling on a case brought by

South Africa accusing Israel of state-led genocide,

the court said Israel must ensure that its forces do not commit genocide, and take measures to improve the humanitarian situation for Palestinian civilians in the enclave.

Israel must 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”, ruled the court in its verdict.

Israel must report to the court within a month on what it is doing to uphold the order.

The presiding judge Joan Donoghue told representatives in The Hague that Israel’s large-scale military operation by land, air and sea has left Gaza to “become a place of death and despair”.

She added that the court was “acutely aware” of the extent of the human tragedy unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering.

There was sufficient evidence for genocide in the enclave, and the court would not throw out the case as Israel requested, she said.

In the ruling, 15 of the 17 judges on the ICJ panel voted for emergency measures which covered most of what South Africa asked for, with the notable exception of ordering a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza.

Israel’s military operation has laid waste to much of the enclave and killed more than 26,000 people, according to the Gaza health authorities. Israel launched its assault after a cross-border rampage on Oct 7 by Hamas militants. Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 240 taken hostage.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the charge of genocide levelled against Israel at the World Court was “outrageous”, and said it would do whatever is necessary to defend itself.

“Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself,” he said in English. “The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.

“But the mere claim that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians is not only false, it’s outrageous, and the willingness of the court to even discuss this is a disgrace that will not be erased for generations.”

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared to mock the World Court’s verdict.

“Hague shmague,” he wrote on X, the first Israel official to comment after the court ended its reading.

Palestine welcomes the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a televised speech on Jan 26.

“The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favour of humanity and international law,” he said.

He added that Palestine calls on all states to ensure that the measures ordered by the court are implemented, “including by Israel, the occupying power”.

South Africa hailed what it called a “decisive victory” for international rule of law and a “significant milestone” in the search for justice for the Palestinian people.

“South Africa sincerely hopes that Israel will not act to frustrate the application of this order, as it has publicly threatened to do, but that it will instead act to comply with it fully, as it is bound to do,” said its Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Israel will have to halt fighting in Gaza if it wants to adhere to the ICJ’s orders, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations said after the ruling.

“How do you provide aid and water without a ceasefire? If you read the order, by implication, a ceasefire must happen,” Mrs Naledi Pandor said on the steps of the seat of the court in The Hague.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola were seen cheering and dancing at a gathering of the governing African National Congress party following the court’s verdict.

The decision is an important development that contributes to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.

“We call for forcing the occupation to implement the court’s decisions,” he added.

Civilian casualties, destruction of infrastructure and the displacement of millions of Gaza’s population have been reported since Israel’s retaliatory military campaign

to militant group Hamas’ Oct 7 attack.

South Africa argued two weeks ago that Israel’s aerial and ground offensive was aimed at bringing about “the destruction of the population” of Gaza.

In response, Israel had asked the ICJ, also called the World Court, to reject the case outright, saying it had a right to defend itself and was targeting Hamas fighters, not Palestinian civilians.

An Israeli government spokesperson on Jan 25 said it expected the UN’s top court to “throw out these spurious and specious charges”.

The ruling did not deal with the core accusation of the case – whether genocide occurred – but focused on the urgent intervention sought by South Africa. But it recognised the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide.

ICJ rulings are binding and cannot be appealed against, although the court has no power to enforce them. They are sometimes completely ignored – Russia was ordered to stop its invasion of Ukraine, for example.

A ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza will be for a second stage of the procedure and is likely to take years.

South Africa’s relations with Israel had soured after it brought the case to the top United Nations court.

El Al Israel Airlines said on Jan 26 it was suspending its route to Johannesburg at the end of March, citing a steep drop in demand after South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the World Court.

Israel’s flag carrier flies up to twice weekly non-stop to Johannesburg.

“Israelis don’t want to fly to South Africa,” said an El Al spokeswoman. “They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty...

“The fact that the Israelis don’t want to go to South Africa but do want to go to other places helps us decide that we’re pausing that route.” The company also cited the current security situation.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.

Acts of genocide named in the convention include: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in whole or in part. REUTERS