In a historic ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has ordered Israel to adopt all kinds of measures to prevent genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip. This verdict has raised hopes that there will be mounting global pressure on Israel to stop its atrocities on the innocent Palestinians.
The court also ordered Israel to preserve evidence of genocide and to submit a report to the court within a month regarding its compliance with the order.
The ICJ ruling called for six provisional measures. The court ordered Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide Convention, prevent public incitement to genocide and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
But the question has arisen whether the Jewish state will abide by the ICJs ruling as it has already vehemently rejected the genocide accusation describing it as wholly unfounded. It indicates that Israel is now way going to comply with the UN court order.
The ICJ on Friday issued the verdict on the much-talked about case brought by South Africa asking the UNs top court to order Israel to stop military action straight away. The majority of courts 17 judges ruled that Israel should do everything to avoid killing Palestinians and causing them serious bodily or mental harm.
Although there was a call for immediate and effective measures to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the court stopped short of calling for a ceasefire by Israeli forces.
The ICJ verdict has sparked global reactions asking Israel to abide by the ruling. In a statement, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said that Israel should give in to the world courts verdict saying that South Africans will not be passive bystanders while crimes are perpetrated upon other people elsewhere in the globe.
The European Union expects the full, immediate and effective implementation of the verdict saying that ICJs orders are binding on the parties and they must comply with them.
Amnesty International has called the ICJ verdict an important step that could help protect Palestinians. It has described ruling as a clear message that the world will not stand by in silence as Israel pursues a ruthless military campaign to decimate the population of the Gaza Strip.
The ICJ delivered its verdict while Israelis continued to unleash its fiercest air and ground operations in Palestine. As a result, the death toll from the war has already surpassed 26,000, with more than 64,000 wounded and over a million people displaced.
We are in plea to the world community to continue to mount pressure on Israel citing the verdict of the UN court in order to end Gaza conflict and find a permanent solution to the prolonged Palestinian crisis.
