On 26 January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) agreed with South Africa’s request for provisional measures against Israel over its genocidal war on occupied Gaza, where the state has killed more than 10,000 children since 7 October 2023.
As stated in the press release shared below:
“(1) By fifteen votes to two,
The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular:
(a) killing members of the group;
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;”
It continued:
“(2) By fifteen votes to two,
The State of Israel shall ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described in point 1 above”
The provisional ICJ ruling
As Al Jazeera reported, the ICJ “did not rule at this stage on the core of the case brought by South Africa – whether genocide has occurred in Gaza”, nor did it explicitly call for a ceasefire – a move which Palestinians and others condemned. Instead, it “effectively put Israel on notice over the war”.
The court, however, can’t enforce its orders. South Africa or others could ask the UN Security Council to push Israel to respect the ICJ’s measures, but the big problem there is the USA, which consistently vetoes or opposes any vote regarding Israel. In this particular case, though, going against the ICJ would further tarnish Washington’s already very poor international reputation.
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