The International Court of Justice has rejected Israel’s tale of security threats to dismiss a very real and looming peril of genocide being committed in Gaza.
In a highly-expected ruling, the court overwhelmingly decided in favor of South Africa; ordering Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the genocide convention and ensure its army did not commit any such act on Gazans.
Even though the significantly notable ICJ ruling stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire, the fact that it demanded real humanitarian aid and trial of those including high-ranked Israeli government officials responsible for mass destruction. In effect, it underlined whatever the Palestinians have been saying for the last one hundred and twelve days is enough cause to proclaim it a significant day.
The ruling may assist in creating ways for governments to follow through but at the end of the day, leaders like Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Justine Trudeau, and Emmanuel Macron would have to persuade someone like Benjamin Netanyahu who is still standing firm in his self-professed campaign to protect Israel and its citizens in whatever way he considers appropriate.
Bombarding a refugee camp in Gaza after having been told by the ICJ to stop killing civilians only works to confirm to the world that he is leading a wrongdoer, immoral state. The disaster that has eaten up one Palestinian child every 15 minutes, left hundreds of thousands in a ditch of terrible hunger and closed the doors on education, livelihood, and life as is known to the rest of the world while turning the entire Gaza Strip to ruins will not be permitted to continue anymore.
The International Court of Justice at The Hague with an awe-inspiring expression, 15-2, has found the State of Israel involved in inflaming violence and genocide against the Palestinians. It called upon Tel Aviv to act to stop anything about genocide in Gaza and granted it a one-month timeframe to comply and report.
The World Court has made a momentous comment on a petition filed by South Africa. It has found Israel to be on the wrong side of defense, upheld Pretoria’s right to sue the Jewish state, and endorsed its jurisdiction to rule over it.
The salient features of the ruling read out by Justice Joan Donoghue note that Israel must take immediate and effective steps to guarantee the delivery of immediately required humanitarian aid and basic services. Humanitarian law binds all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The ruling also notes the court has jurisdiction to issue provisional emergency measures. Israel must abstain from killing, injuring, destroying life, and preventing births concerning Palestinians. Furthermore, Gaza today is a broken society where the civilian population remains exceptionally helpless.
Consequently, the panel of judges with a majority ruled that the above-mentioned actions fall within the scope of the Genocide Convention. There was, however, a disillusionment, as the reputed court did not call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. On the other hand, it unambiguously admonished Israel to stop the bloodshed.
As the case will take years to close, with a formal decision on counts of genocide, it is conceivably encouraging that Israel is in the dock possibly for the first time in its seven decades of bloodthirstiness.
Although the ICJ rulings are binding, they lack an implementation apparatus. Nevertheless, what is sure is that times have changed and the world public opinion is against Israel.
This remarkable piece of ruling must serve as an authorization for the UN to prevail over the far-right dispensation, and work straightaway for a Two-State solution in the Middle East. South Africa’s initiative to lead from the front has overwhelmed Israel’s unrestrained conceit and war-mongering.
