As I feared, the provisional ruling has been left up to interpretation...
The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to act immediately to prevent genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire in the war-torn enclave.
- Prevent commission of acts that kill or cause serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians. The acts are specified within Article Two of the genocide convention.
- Ensure that its military does not commit any of the aforementioned acts
- Prevent and punish any direct and public incitement to commit genocide
- Enable provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza
- Prevent destruction of any evidence related to allegations of acts of genocide
- Submit a report to the court on all measures taken to adhere to these orders
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-pre-01-00-en.pdf
That's basically nothing, as weak as the UNSC resolution and what the US has been telling Israel to cover for them, adhere to international law, with the IDF claiming they do... (but stuff happens as they say, or deny it happened)
Netanyahu hails ICJ ruling as rejection of "discrimination" against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed the preliminary International Court of Justice ruling on South Africa's accusation of genocide as a rejection of discrimination against his country. “Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself,” he said in a short video message.
“The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.”
Double standards for sure, with far less evidence
3 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine
https://www.icj-cij.org/case/182
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/182/182-20220316-SUM-01-00-EN.pdf
South Africa says a ceasefire in Gaza is necessary to comply with ICJ ruling
South Africa’s Foreign Minister believes that in order for Israel to comply with the International Criminal Court (ICJ) ruling, a ceasefire would be necessary, but insisted she was not “disappointed” the court didn’t include it in the order. “In exercising the [ICJ] order, there would have to be a ceasefire,” Naledi Pandor said after the hearing. “Without it the order doesn’t actually work.”
“No way I am going to say I am disappointed, I hope for it (a ceasefire) but the fact of delivering humanitarian aid, the fact of taking measures that reduce the levels of harm against persons who have no role in what Israel is combating to me requires a ceasefire. "I believe Israel would have to attend to how it conducts its search for the hostages and for those Hamas individuals, who carried out the October 7th attacks,” she added. “I am satisfied with the directions that have been given.”
The South African foreign minister thanked the ICJ judges for “for dealing with this matter expeditiously” and warned states who have been supporting Israel that they may find themselves involved in the case as the proceedings develop. “It's clear that the court does say, circumstances exist, where it is plausible, that genocidal acts have been committed,” Pandor explained. “This, of course, means once the merit case is addressed, and if the finding is that there has been genocide, those states that have aided and abetted become a party to commission.”
In a statement, the South African government called the ICJ ruling a “decisive victory for the international rule of law.”
What else can they say. The case will progress but any real consequences will take many years to materialize and plenty time for the case to get buried or sidelined like the running cases from the 2014 war crimes in Gaza.
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