On 26 January the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issues "emergency measures" after a hearing to rule on a number of interim steps which South Africa had asked the court to take against Israel. The key request of South Africa was an order to Israel to immideitly halt operations in Gaza, however the court did not uphold this.
The application for provisional measures was brought before the ICJ by South Africa who alleged that Israel was in violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Convention), specifically Article I (acknowledgement that genocide is a crime) read in conjunction with Article II (defines genocide as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, inflicting unliveable conditions, preventing births, or forcibly removing children from a national, ethnic or religious group), Article III (lists punishable acts, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to genocide, attempted genocide, and complicity in genocide), Article IV (persons who commit one of the acts contained in Article III will be punished regardless of their position in the state), Article V (signatory States must enact legislation to give effect to the Convention’s provisions), and Article VI ( those charged with genocide will be tried by a “competent tribunal” in the Sate the act was committed in or by an international penal tribunal who has jurisdiction). In the application, South Africa requested the ICJ order Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza as well as all related activity.
When deciding on the ruling the ICJ needed to establish whether the Palestinians amounted to a protected group under Article II of the Convention and whether any of the actions Israel has taken/ continues to take amounted/amount to prohibited crimes under Article III. The ICJ did conclude that Palestinians have protection under Article II as they fall under the Article II definition of a “national, ethnic or religious group”. When evaluating the actions of Israel, the Court noted that since October of 2023 25,700 Palestinians have been killed, 63,000 injured, and 1.7 million have been displaced from their homes (data up until January of 2024). They also took into account statements made by Israeli officials as well as the United Nations Human Rights statement voicing concern over, “discernibly genocidal and dehumanising rhetoric coming from senior Israeli government officials”. Due to these elements, the Court concluded that South Africa’s assertions were not without merit; however, they declined to order Israel to halt all military operations.
While the ICJ was unwilling to order an immidiate ceasefire they did order Israel to take measures to prevent all acts which fall under the definition of genocide in Article II of the Convention. The Court specifically listed, killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting unliveable conditions designed to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part; and imposing measures to prevent births, but noted that these acts were only prohibited under the Convention if they were done to with the intention to destroy, either totally or partially, a group that can be defined as a “national, ethnic or religious”. The ICJ further stated that Israel must immediately seek to enable Palestinians to receive “urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” as well as take steps to preserve any evidence related to the allegations of genocide as it is defined by the Convention.
The ICJ concluded its Interim ruling by ordering Israel to make a report to the Court within one month detailing all of the measures they have taken to properly comply with the Order. The report will then be communicated to South Africa who will be allowed to respond. The court also ruled that it had the legal right to proceed with the case to establish the existence of breaches of the covention, a final verdict of which could take several more years.
Click here for the interim ruling in Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)