On Friday January 26th, the highest court of the United Nations urged Israel to take all measures to prevent any acts of genocide, in the Gaza Strip. The awaited decision was made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague, Netherlands.
Additionally the court called upon Israel to grant access to Gaza. It emphasized that Israel should promptly and effectively facilitate the provision of services and urgent humanitarian aid required by Palestinians to address their living conditions.
The Israeli Prime Minister stressed that the ICJ was not taking away Israel’s right to defend itself, but that he was outraged that the court had declared itself competent to rule on the merits of the case. He went on to assert that Israel was waging a just war against the Hamas monsters who had killed, kidnapped, raped and tortured Israeli citizens, and that it would continue to do so as long as Hamas constituted a threat to Israel’s security and existence.
In response to these developments Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu swiftly denounced South Africas allegations of “genocide” in Gaza as outrageous. stressed that the ICJ was not taking away Israel’s right to defend itself, but that he was outraged that the court had declared itself competent to rule on the merits of the case. He went on to assert that Israel was waging a just war against the Hamas monsters who had killed, kidnapped, raped and tortured Israeli citizens, and that it would continue to do so as long as Hamas constituted a threat to Israel’s security and existence.
Reactions from several countries
South Africa hailed a “decisive victory for the rule of international law and an important step in the quest for justice for the Palestinian people”. The South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that the Court “has determined that Israel’s actions in Gaza are plausibly genocidal and has indicated provisional measures on that basis”, thanking it “for its swift decision”.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki spoke out in a video message. Friday’s order is “an important warning that no state is above the law”, he said. “States now have a clear legal obligation to end Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people of Gaza.”
Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, hailed “an important development” which, in its view, “isolates Israel” on the international stage.
The Minister of National Security, an extreme right-wing figure, considers the precautionary measures requested of Israel by the International Court of Justice to be anti-Semitic in nature, and calls on Israel not to comply with this decision.
The United States also reacted through a State Department spokesman: “We continue to believe that the accusations of genocide are unfounded, and note that the Court did not find genocide or call for a ceasefire”.
The European Union called for the “full and immediate” implementation of this decision, welcomed by several countries including Turkey, Iran and Spain.
You can read the ICJ order in full here and watch the full video of the judgement here.
