THE HAGUE: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule today on a request by South Africa to order Israel to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
The rulings of the top UN court are binding but it has no power to enforce them. It had ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail, for example.
Being one of the six organs of the United Nations, and located in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues.
The ICJ said it will rule on Friday on the South African request to order Israel to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
South Africa has petitioned the ICJ for emergency measures to order Israel to “cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip” including in Rafah city, where it is pressing an offensive.
Despite all possible defiance, a ruling against Israel would increase the international legal pressure after the ICJ’s top prosecutor said Monday he was seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders.
In hearings last week, South Africa charged that Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza had hit a “new and horrific stage” with its assault on Rafah, the last part of Gaza to face a ground invasion.
A lawyer for South Africa Vaughan Lowe argued before the court that the Rafah campaign is “the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people.”
Israel’s lawyers described South Africa’s case as “completely detached” from reality, which “made a mockery” of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, which it is accused of violating.
“Calling something genocide over and over again does not make it genocide. Repeating a lie does not make it true,” said Israel’s top lawyer Gilad Noam.
“There is a tragic war going on, but no genocide,” he added.
Israeli troops launched their ground assault on parts of Rafah earlier this month, defying international opposition, including top ally the United States, which has expressed concern about more than a million civilians trapped in the city.
Israel ordered a mass evacuation of the city, vowing to eliminate Hamas’ tunnel network and its remaining fighters.
According to the UN, more than 800,000 people have fled.
