Gaza: ICJ rejects new South African request against Israel
After Israel's announcement of an upcoming military offensive on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.4 million inhabitants have taken refuge, South Africa took the matter to the International Court of Justice a second time in order to obtain new measurements. This Friday, the highest legal body of the UN rejected this request.
Judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) deliver their verdict on Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 26, 2024. © PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW / Reuters
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In its decision, the International Court of Justice
rejected South Africa's additional request
because it considers that Israel must already respect the measures ordered last January, that is to say prevent any possible act of genocide and allow the access of humanitarian aid to the
Gaza
Strip .
The ICJ judges note that “
the events that occurred very recently in the Gaza Strip, and in particular in Rafah, “would lead to an exponential worsening of what is already a humanitarian nightmare with unfathomable regional consequences”, as well as indicated the Secretary General of the United Nations
,
Antonio Guterres
, according to a press release.
Also read: Israel's response to South Africa's new requests before the ICJ
But they add that “
this alarming situation requires the immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its order of January 26, 2024, which are applicable to the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah, and not do not require the indication of additional measures
.
South Africa had already taken the matter to the ICJ for the first time, arguing that
Israel
's operations in Gaza amounted to a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This second referral concerned exclusively the situation around Rafah, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
“
A sword rather than a shield
”
In a letter addressed to the Court by way of defense, the Jewish State, without reservation, affirmed that it respected international law and assured that it had “
demonstrated it in words and deeds
”. The military offensive denounced by
South Africa
on the south of the enclave having not taken place, Israel also denounced this new request from South Africa as a cynical attempt to use the Court as "
a sword rather than a shield
.
On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz affirmed Friday that his country will coordinate with Egypt
before
its military operation in Rafah, adding that Israel
would “keep
US President
Joe Biden
informed of the offensive military.
(With AFP)
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