Top UN court rejects South Africa call for Israel to end war against Hamas

At The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday, Jan. 26, the U.N.’s top court rejected South Africa’s call to end Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. The nearly unanimous decision by the panel of 17 judges delivered a blow to advocates’ hopes of a ceasefire.

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Israel’s war against Hamas is in its fourth month and shows no signs of ending soon. However, the panel did deliver South Africa at least one legal victory. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to “take all measures” to prevent further Palestinian deaths to ensure against claims of genocide.

The court ordered Israel to take legal action against anyone who commits genocide, publicly incites genocide, or is complicit in genocide against Palestinians. The panel also demanded additional steps be taken to ensure humanitarian aid is flowing into Gaza.

Israel said it’s already ensuring aid to the Gaza Strip and these demands will likely change little about their efforts.

“Israel is enabling, working with, we say, international organizations to enable humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip,” said Pnina Sharvit Baruch, a senior researcher at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. “On a practical level, these measures would not necessarily change Israel’s conduct.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the ruling Friday in a recorded address.

“The charge of genocide leveled against Israel is not only false, it’s outrageous, and decent people everywhere should reject it,” Netanyahu said. “Our war is against Hamas terrorists, not against Palestinian civilians. We will continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance and do our utmost to keep civilians out of harm’s way, even as Hamas uses civilians as human shields.”

The ICJ said as part of the deliberations, it considered evidence from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned the U.N. Security Council in December, “Nowhere is safe in Gaza amid constant bombarding by Israeli Defense Forces.”

Other factors the court considered were comments by the defense minister of Israel, who is accused of telling troops on the Gaza border that they were “fighting animals” who were the “ISIS of Gaza.”

The ruling by the ICJ is just the first step in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. It’s believed a decision by the U.N. may take years.

As the court rejected a call to end fighting, the death toll of Palestinians has now surpassed 26,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, more than 100 Israeli hostages remain at the mercy of Hamas militants. Families of the hostages have pleaded with Israeli leaders to strike a deal to bring the captives home, even storming government meetings.

Israel’s war against Hamas came after a terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, at a music festival in Israel. The attack left 1,200 dead, and Hamas militants took around 250 people hostage.