THE HAGUE: The World Court did not impose a ceasefire, despite South Africa’s request, but rather directed Israel to stop acts of genocide against the Palestinian people and increase its assistance to civilians on Friday.
Over 26,000 Palestinians have died in the battle; earlier this month, South Africa took the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an attempt to get emergency measures approved.
In its onslaught, which started when Hamas members broke into Israel, it claimed Israel of state-led genocide and killed 1,200 people while abducted over 240 more. Israel requested that the case be dismissed.
The judges’ decision on Friday mandated that Israel punish and improve, and that it take all necessary actions to stop its troops from committing genocide.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided that the Palestinians seemed to be a protected group under the 1948 Genocide Convention, even while it did not mandate a ceasefire and would not dismiss the genocide case. It did not rule on the veracity of the claims of genocide.
Israel has stated that it makes every effort to prevent civilian casualties and has labeled South Africa’s accusations as untrue and “grossly distorted”.
Lawyers from both parties sparred over the meaning of this Convention during two days of proceedings earlier this month in the opulent Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice.
Israel was charged by South Africa of committing “genocidal” acts with the goal of “destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.”
In order to allow humanitarian aid to reach the civilians in Gaza, it pleaded with the court to force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military actions there.
Israel rejected the argument, calling it a “grossly distorted story” and asserting that any acts of genocide that had occurred had been committed against Israel as a result of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Israel’s senior lawyer, Tal Becker, stated, “What Israel seeks by operating in Gaza is not to destroy a people, but to protect a people, its people, who are under attack on multiple fronts.”
Whether or if the court’s decisions will be followed is the current question.
Even while its decisions are legally binding, there is no way for it to enforce them, and occasionally they are disregarded entirely.
With the words “no one will stop us,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already intimated that Israel will defy any court decision, including one from The Hague.
However, analysts think that in addition to the ruling’s enormous symbolic significance, there might be real-world repercussions.
“When a neutral third party concludes that there is a risk of genocide, it makes it much harder for other states to continue to support Israel,” said Juliette McIntyre, an expert in international law from the University of South Australia.
“States may withdraw military or other support for Israel in order to avoid this,” she stated.
