The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today issued its long-awaited decision regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip and the case advanced by South Africa—and supported by several countries around the world since—against Israel’s conduct there. South Africa had in December 2023 presented a case to the ICJ against Israel accusing it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The court had responded on January 26 by issuing orders to Israel to take all measures to prevent such a crime, prevent its military from doing same, desist from incitement to commit genocide, allow humanitarian assistance to flow to Gaza, and report on measures it intended to take to execute the court’s orders.
Today’s decision by the ICJ ordering Israel to end its military operation in Rafah is a significant and historic development that should, if honored by Israel and the United States, contribute to the prompt conclusion of a genocidal war that brought nothing but pain and misery to an unstable region. Above all, the decision represents a victory for justice and the supremacy of international law.
In today’s decision, a majority of 13 to 2 judges reaffirmed the court’s previous decisions of January 26 and March 28, 2024. The court also, by a majority of 13 to 2, approved a set of orders that Israel must execute. Israel and Uganda were the only two objections to the near unanimous vote. As stated by the court’s decision, Israel must:
- Immediately halt its current offensive against the Governorate of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
- Maintain the Rafah crossing open for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people in the Strip.
- Allow international fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry to investigate “allegations of genocide.”
- Submit a report within one month on measures taken to address these orders by the court.
It goes without saying that Israel must stop its military operations against Rafah where more than a million Palestinians live and have taken shelter, as well as other areas of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s war has killed almost 36,000 Palestinians and injured more than 80,000 others. The least the court could do is call for a halt to the ongoing massacre of men, women, and children and the destruction of the physical environment in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that military operations in Rafah, or Gaza in general, will not stop until they achieve victory over Hamas, a goal that has so far proven very hard to attain.