U.N. Court Urges Israel To Prevent Genocide In Gaza But Doesn't Order A Ceasefire

In an interim judgment on Friday, it was ruled by the United Nations' International Court of Justice that the case brought by South Africa against Israel is within its jurisdiction. Israel's request for the dismissal of the case was rejected by the Court.

The case alleges 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 ethnical group."

Photo Credit: PTI

World Court asks Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza

In the court at The Hague, Netherlands, it was announced by the court's president on Friday, Joan E. Donoghue, that Israel's request to dismiss the case brought by South Africa was not accepted, based on the initial assessment of Israel's actions and remarks from Israeli leaders.

The court, while not ordering an immediate cease-fire, did instruct Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza and preserve any evidence of the crime.

The case was filed by South Africa at the ICJ in December, seeking an interim order for Israel to immediately halt its military operations in Gaza. The court's ruling on that request for provisional measures was expected on Friday. The ICJ, being the U.N.'s top court, issues binding rulings but lacks the power to enforce them.

Israel has vehemently rejected the accusation of genocide, asserting its right to self-defence and criticizing South Africa for bringing what it calls a "false and baseless" case in defence of Hamas. Earlier this month, Israel sought the dismissal of the case.

Hamas initiated an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in the death of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of about 240 others. In response, Israel launched a counter-offensive in Gaza, aiming to destroy Hamas.

According to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, the offensive has resulted in the death of over 26,000 people, mostly women and children.

In its application to the court, South Africa accuses Israel of "killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction." It also alleges that Israel is violating its fundamental obligations under the Genocide Convention.

The Genocide Convention was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 after the Holocaust. In it, "genocide" is defined as any one of a series of acts, "committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group." Those acts include:

1. Members of the group being killed.
2. Serious bodily or mental harm being caused to members of the group.
3. Conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part being deliberately inflicted.
4. Measures intended to prevent births within the group being imposed.
5. Children of the group were forcibly transferred to another group.

Several measures have been taken by Israel's government and military 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, reported CBS News.

Earlier this month, Israeli foreign ministry legal adviser Tal Becker stated, "The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas' strategy. If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel...Hamas seeks genocide against Israel."

It was mentioned that the ICJ is a civil court that generally rules on disputes between U.N. member states. While its decisions are binding, the court lacks the means to enforce its rulings, allowing countries to ignore them, as seen in the case of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In 2022, the ICJ ruled that Russia must "immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine," after the Ukrainian government brought a case alleging that Russia's military was also committing genocide. Fighting in Ukraine is ongoing.