The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) this Friday ordered Israel to immediately stop its military offensive against Rafah, in southern Gaza, and any other action that could lead to the total or partial destruction of Palestinians as cluster. This is a new urgent measure adopted in view of the fact that the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” suffered by the population has become “a disaster,” according to the decision. The judges also demand that Israel keep the Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt, open so that humanitarian aid can enter. Finally, they ask the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to allow access to Gaza to the investigative commissions sent by the UN to investigate the allegations of genocide made in the lawsuit presented by South Africa last December. Israel must inform the court within a month of the application of all these measures, which, however, avoid demanding a complete end to the invasion of Gaza.
For the court, the humanitarian situation has become “disastrous” with the intensification of bombing and orders for the forced evacuation of Rafah. In this way, the magistrates emphasize that the circumstances are “exceptionally serious.” Thus, in the public reading of the decision, the president of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam, recalled that since the recent start of the military operation in Rafah, at least 800,000 people – the vast majority of the 1.2 million who gather in that small territory—have had to leave that city in the south of the enclave, and that “the evacuation and other measures” applied by Israel to ensure the safety of civilians “are not sufficient and present an imminent risk to the population.” The court has even stated that it has received “no evidence” that the Israeli Government provides security and guarantees of access to decent humanitarian conditions.
This Friday’s decision includes emergency and far-reaching precautionary measures to protect Palestinians taking refuge in Rafah, the last area that Israel still does not fully control. The ICJ, the UN body that settles conflicts between states, demands a stop to the offensive or any other action against “the Palestinians as a group” that could “impose vital conditions that lead to their physical destruction in whole or in part.” The president of the court, Nawaf Salam, has recalled the substance of the case by stating that Israel must allow “the allegations of genocide” presented by South Africa, which denounced the offensive on Gaza last December before the court, to be investigated. The international convention on genocide defines it as the “systematic elimination of a human group for reasons of race, ethnicity, religion or nationality” and the court must decide whether Israel has breached it.
It is the third time that the judges have ruled in this case since, last January, South Africa filed the lawsuit against Israel for possible “genocidal acts” in the Strip. Pretoria has argued that it may be the court’s “last chance” to ensure the survival of Gazans.
The provisions demanded this Friday by the ICJ were emergency due to the intensification of bombing by Israel – which does not admit the jurisdiction of the court to impose decisions on it – in Rafah. The substance of the case (whether or not genocide is being committed in Gaza) is not addressed for now. In this last phase, which may take several years to resolve, it must be substantiated whether, as South Africa denounces, this crime has occurred, the worst of those it denounces by virtue of the violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1948). ) signed by both countries. Pretoria currently maintains that Israel’s legitimate defense against Hamas attacks cannot translate into unchecked violence against civilians. Since the Israeli offensive began, starting with the Hamas attacks on October 7, the death toll in Gaza amounts to 35,800 people, according to the Strip’s Ministry of Health.
According to Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, one of South Africa’s delegates to the ICJ, the Israeli military campaign has not only caused hunger and destroyed infrastructure. “Israel’s intention has been to destroy the lives of Palestinians and Rafah is the last stop.” On previous occasions, the court concluded that there was a risk of irreparable harm to the Palestinians’ right to be protected from genocide. For this reason, on January 26, he first demanded that Israel adopt the necessary measures to prevent acts of this kind, and to allow the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. On March 28, and in a second round of expanded precautionary measures, he again demanded that the Israeli Government avoid famine in the Strip. That would meet the needs of the population and not violate their rights.
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The Israeli Government responds, on the contrary, that it only launched its attack after Hamas broke into its territory on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, according to its count. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, rejects any accusation of genocide, and his spokesmen pointed out this Thursday that “no power on Earth will prevent Israel from protecting its citizens and persecuting Hamas in Gaza,” according to Avi Hyman. .
The ICJ order hampers Israel’s ability to continue business as usual in Gaza. The ICJ is the highest judicial body of the UN and there is also the possibility that the Security Council, the control body, will rule again on this war. He already did so last March by calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after the United States did not veto the initiative. They also called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages held by Hamas. It was the first time that the Council had made an appeal of this nature since the start of the war in October. Right now, the diplomatic pressure on Israel to end hostilities is even greater. And although the TIJ lacks coercive power, the international repercussion of its measures is visible. Spain, Ireland and Norway have announced that they will recognize the Palestinian State next week. Although Palestine is only an observer state within the United Nations, it is already recognized by at least 140 countries in the world.
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