The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on Thursday, March 28, to provide “urgent humanitarian aid” to Gaza, in the face of “a famine that is taking over” the Palestinian territory. This order is addressed to Israel “in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” specifies the Court based in The Hague.
The order published on Thursday responds to a request in early March from South Africa to the ICJ to impose “additional precautionary measures” on Israel to those announced on January 26.
“A coming famine”
Israel, for its part, described as “scandalous” and “morally repugnant” South Africa’s appeal to the UN’s highest court for new emergency measures to be adopted in the face of the “famine” in Gaza.
In its order published Thursday, the Court observed that “the disastrous conditions in which Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further.”
“Palestinians in Gaza are no longer only exposed to a risk of famine, as noted in its order of January 26, 2024, but must now face increasing famine,” the ICJ concludes.
Therefore, Israel “must” ensure “without delay” the “unrestricted and large-scale supply by all interested parties of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” to Gaza, orders the ICJ based in The Hague.
“An important decision”, according to South Africa
The order further recommends that aid to Palestinians in Gaza be done by “increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and keeping them open as long as necessary.”
Pretoria welcomed Thursday’s decision, calling it “important.”
“The fact that Palestinian deaths are not only caused by shelling and ground attacks, but also by disease and hunger, indicates the need to protect this group’s right to exist,” South Africa said in a press release.
The orders of the ICJ, which resolves disputes between states, are binding but has no means of enforcing them. For example, he ordered Russia to stop its current invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa appealed to the ICJ in late December, accusing Israel of carrying out “genocide” in Gaza, a charge vehemently denied by Israel. In January, the court ordered Israel to do everything possible to prevent “genocide” during its Gaza offensive and ruled that Israel must authorize aid to Gaza.
A few weeks later, South Africa requested new measures, citing an alleged incursion in Rafah, a request that the court rejected.
The war, sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the narrow Palestinian territory of Gaza, where most of the 2.4 million inhabitants are threatened with famine according to the UN.
Source: BFM TV
