ICJ President Joan Donoghue (centre) speaks at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prior to the verdict announcement in the genocide case against Israel, brought by South Africa, in The Hague on January 26, 2024. (Photo by Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP)
The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations ordered on Friday the Israeli entity to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza and direct incitement to it, and to take measures to ensure that the urgent humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip are met immediately.
In a session announcing its decision to accept the lawsuit filed by South Africa against the Israeli entity for committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the court noted that it has the authority to rule on emergency measures in the genocide case against the Israeli entity, stressing that South Africa has the right to file the lawsuit and Israel's request for its return cannot be accepted.
A large majority of members of the court's 17-judge panel voted in favor of taking urgent measures that meet most of what South Africa requested, except for an order to stop the war on Gaza.
The court stated that it recognizes the right of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to protection from acts of genocide and that many Palestinians in the Strip cannot access water, food, and the basics of life, stressing that the conditions are in place to impose interim measures on the Israeli entity.
The Court requested the Israeli entity to submit a report to it within a month to determine the measures it has taken, the need for the occupation authorities to take measures to prevent incitement against the Palestinians, and to punish anyone who incites it, in addition to taking measures to prevent the destruction and preservation of evidence relating to the commission of genocide.
It noted that it had taken into account statements by Israeli officials about the dehumanization of the Palestinians, noting that some of the rights South Africa is seeking are reasonable.
On December 29, South Africa filed a lawsuit against the Israeli entity against the backdrop of its involvement in "acts of genocide" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and dozens of countries supported it, in a historical precedent in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
South Africa submitted to the court an elaborate 84-page file, in which it collected evidence that the Israeli occupation killed thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and created conditions predisposed to inflicting physical destruction on them, which is considered a crime of genocide.
