IT is unfortunate that, on Friday, the International Court of Justice did not endorse South Africa’s demand for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza as it delivered a preliminary ruling on the genocide case brought against Israel.

While legal intricacies are important, stopping the butchery of Palestinians is a more pressing concern. However, the court has upped the moral pressure on Tel Aviv to end its amoral campaign against defenceless civilians in the besieged Strip, even though the Zionist state has no intention of doing so.

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Importantly, the judges felt that South Africa’s evidence supporting the genocide case against Israel could not be ruled out “prima facie”. Furthermore, the bench ordered Tel Aviv to take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide, prevent and punish those involved in the incitement of genocide, and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel has been given a month to report back to The Hague with regard to complying with these measures.

In his reaction, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has termed the order “outrageous” and vowed to continue fighting his “just war” in which some 26,000 people have been massacred. Earlier, he had boasted: “Nobody will stop us — not The Hague… .”

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Meanwhile, the US that has lent its iron-clad support to Tel Aviv, which is responsible for a massacre that will go down in infamy, has said it continues to believe “allegations of genocide are unfounded”. Though it may take the ICJ years to determine if, legally, Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, in the popular view the murder of children, the collective punishment and starvation of an entire civilian population, and the ethnic cleansing of Gazans very much fit the definition of genocide. Other states have hailed the ICJ’s order.

Where to from here? Most importantly, when will the slaughter of Gaza’s people end? While the ICJ’s rulings are binding, the court cannot enforce them. And as Israel’s arrogant replies have proved, it has no intention of respecting the court’s orders. This is a mockery of the very rules-based order the US, UK and other Western states have sworn to uphold.

In the past, these actors have bombed, or threatened to attack states that have, according to them, strayed from the ‘rules-based order’. Will they take a similar line against Israel? Or will they continue to defend the indefensible? Kudos to South Africa for raising a voice for humanity and against barbarism, irrespective of religious and ethnic affiliations. It is hoped that when the court next meets, more concrete measures are proposed to end the bloodbath and that one day, those responsible for shedding the blood of innocents in Gaza are brought to justice, as are those who aided and abetted them.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2024