The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures ina case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel denies it is committing genocide. It says its military campaign is self-defence and aimed at Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
The order came after South Africa sought more provisional measures, including a ceasefire, citing starvation in Gaza. Israel urged the court not to issue new orders.
In its legally binding order, the court told Israel to take measures “without delay” to ensure “the unhindered provision” of basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.
It also ordered Israel to immediately ensure its military does not take action that could harm Palestinians’ rights under the Genocide Convention, including by preventing the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The court told Israel to report back in a month on its implementation of the orders.
Israel declared war in response to a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 in which 1200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage. Israel responded with a campaign of airstrikes and a ground offensive that have left over 32,000 Palestinians dead, according to local health authorities. The fighting also displaced more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s population and caused widespread damage.
The UN and international aid agencies say virtually the entire Gaza population is struggling to get enough food, with hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, especially in hard-hit northern Gaza.
President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the Palestinian Authority for almost two decades, announced a new Cabinet this week. Photo / AP
South Africa welcomed the decision, calling it “significant”.
“The fact that Palestinian deaths are not solely caused by bombardment and ground attacks, but also by disease and starvation, indicates a need to protect the group’s right to exist,” the South African President said in a statement.
In a written response this month to South Africa’s request for more measures, Israel said the claims by South Africa were “wholly unfounded”, “morally repugnant” and “an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the court itself”.
After initially sealing Gaza’s borders in the early days of the war, Israel began to permit entry of humanitarian supplies. It says it places no restrictions on the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to properly organise the deliveries.
A plane airdrops humanitarian aid over the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, March 28. Photo / AP
The UN and international aid groups say deliveries have been impeded by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order.
Israel has been working with international partners on a plan to soon begin deliveries of aid by sea.
Israel has repeatedly feuded with the United Nations, particularly UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and main provider of aid in Gaza. Israel accuses the agency of tolerating and even co-operating with Hamas — a charge UNRWA denies.
The court said in its order that “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine ... but that famine is setting in”. It cited a report from the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs that said at least 31 people, including 27 children, have already died of malnutrition and dehydration.
The World Court said earlier orders imposed on Israel after landmark hearings in South Africa’s case “do not fully address the consequences arising from the changes in the situation” in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the army said it inspected 258 aid trucks, but only 116 were distributed within Gaza by the UN
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, has also run pilot programmes to inspect the humanitarian aid at Israel’s main checkpoints in the south and then use land crossings in central Gaza to try to bring aid to the devastated northern part of the Strip. The agency had no immediate comment on the ICJ ruling.
