[News] ICJ orders 'Israel' to halt genocidal acts; fails to order ceasefire

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/icj-rules-its-jurisdiction-over-israeli-genocidal-crimes-in>
ICJ orders 'Israel' to halt genocidal acts; fails to order ceasefire
Al Mayadeen English
January 26, 2024
------------------------------

In the UN's top court hearing, the World Court stated that it would not
dismiss the case despite the Israeli request, calling on the occupation to
halt all military action that aligns with genocide.
[image: f34bf969-517c-4147-83a5-2714b8973f66.jpg]

   - The United Nations' highest court meets on Friday to announce its
   decision on the request presented by South Africa to enforce emergency
   measures against "Israel" for its war on Gaza, on January 26, 2024.
   (Illustrated by Arwa Makki; Al Mayadeen English)

The United Nations' highest court asserted its jurisdiction
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/icj-says-to-rule-on--israel--gaza-genocide-case-on-friday>
to act on the emergency measures sought by South Africa in its lawsuit
against "Israel's" actions in the Gaza war.

Despite the Israeli request for dismissal, the World Court stated that it
would not dismiss the case.

 On Friday, the UN's top court ordered that some rights presented by South
Africa in its genocide case against the Israeli war on Gaza are plausible.

As the reading proceeded, the court recognized the right of Palestinians in
Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide, adding that the Palestinians
are a protected group under the genocide convention.  However, the ruling
does not deal with the core accusation of the case - whether genocide
occurred - but focuses on the urgent intervention sought by South Africa
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/south-africa-expecting-icj-emergency-measures-ruling-on-frid>
.

Among the measures South Africa requested was an immediate halt to the
Israeli military operation, which has laid waste to much of the enclave and
killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
'Israel' expected to take measures against genocide acts

The Court ordered "Israel" to take all measures to prevent genocide acts in
Gaza, ensure its forces do not commit genocide, and take measures to
improve the humanitarian situation.

 "Israel" is required to submit a report to the court within a month,
detailing its actions to comply with the order. Furthermore, it must
implement measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/south-africa-says--israel--failed-to-disprove-genocide-charg>
in the context of its war on Gaza.

 "The state of Israel shall.... take all measures within its power to
prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the
Genocide Convention," the court said.

In a comprehensive decision, 15 of the 17-judge panel of the ICJ voted in
favor of urgent measures, addressing most of South Africa's requests,
though notably excluding an order for "Israel" to cease military actions in
Gaza.
S. Africa takes 'Israel' to court

Last year, South Africa submitted a motion to the International Court of
Justice
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/s--africa-icj-appeal-says--israel--genocidal--tel-aviv--deno>
on December 29, 2023, accusing Israeli forces of violating the UN's
Genocide Convention. South Africa's submission to the Hague-based court
reads that the Israeli occupation forces [IOF] operations "are genocidal in
character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent to
destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national,
racial, and ethnical group."

The International Court of Justice has the authority to issue "provisional
measures," emergency orders aimed at safeguarding Palestinians in Gaza from
potential breaches of the convention. These orders are legally binding and
cannot be appealed, though enforcing them poses a challenge.

On December 29, "Israel" rejected South Africa's launch of a genocide case
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/s--africa-icj-appeal-says--israel--genocidal--tel-aviv--deno>
against it at the International Court of Justice. Despite the sea of war
crime evidence, the occupation labeled the case as groundless blood libel
lacking legal merit and asserted that its army was adhering to
international humanitarian law.

On that note, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted
that his government
might not adhere to any ICJ order
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/icj-says-to-rule-on--israel--gaza-genocide-case-on-friday>,
stating, "No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil, and no
one else," in reference to the Axis of Resistance.
At the first ICJ hearing

South Africa's legal team stated on January 11th - in its opening statement
at The Hague
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/at-first-icj-hearing--south-africa-provides--genocide--evide>
- that South Africa has recognized the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian
people through "Israel's" colonization since 1948, "which has
systematically and forcibly dispossessed, displaced, and fragmented the
Palestinian people, deliberately denying them the internationally
recognized inalienable right to self-determination and their
internationally recognized rights of return as refugees to their towns and
villages in what is now the state of Israel."

The team emphasized that South Africa is particularly mindful of "Israel’s"
"institutionalized regime of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices
designed and maintained to establish domination, subjecting the Palestinian
people to apartheid on both sides of the Green Line."

They also pointed out that the decade-long impunity for widespread and
systematic human rights violations has emboldened "Israel" in its
recurrence and intensification of humanitarian crimes in Palestine, while
simultaneously acknowledging that "the genocidal acts and omissions" by
"Israel" "inevitably form part of a continuum of illegal acts perpetrated
against the Palestinian people since 1948."

The ICJ's limited enforcement capabilities were exemplified when it ordered
Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine, a directive that went unheeded. If
the court rules against "Israel", it could intensify political pressure,
potentially leading to sanctions.
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