ICJ Rules in Favour of South Africa and Against Israel
The preventive measures that the court ordered were passed by 15/2 or 16/1 margins.
Justice has prevailed in The Hague. By overwhelming margins, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has decided in favour of the complaint made by South Africa and so the court has ordered “provisional measures” be implemented immediately by Israel.
This amounts to an international order to “cease and desist”.
To put it succinctly: Israel needs to immediately suspend its campaign in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza.
Here’s a summary of what the court said:
The court’s opinion is 29 pages long, comprised of 6 sections and 86 paragraphs, the last of which includes the actual actions and requirements imposed on Israel.
One of the most important paragraphs is where the court declares that South Africa has met the standards under which the court can impose provisional measures:
54. In the Court’s view, the facts and circumstances mentioned above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts identified in Article III, and the right of South Africa to seek Israel’s compliance with the latter’s obligations under the Convention.
Below is an extract of section VI, which contains the actual measures and the “Operative Clause” detailing the next steps.
What the ICJ didn’t do
The Court did not order a cease fire, and did not explicitly order Israel to suspend its military operations (as it did with Russia in the Ukraine).
Many people are critical of this omission, as a cease fire was top of the list of South Africa’s requests.
Nonetheless, the decision was a huge moral victory for Palestine. It is especially important when you realise that Israel along with its Western backers US, UK, Germany, etc. were demanding that the case be thrown out.
At least now the case can proceed.
VI. CONCLUSION AND MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED
This is the meat of the ruling, and it indicates what measures are to be taken by Israel, and also indicates who voted in favour and against each measure.
75. The Court concludes on the basis of the above considerations that the conditions required by its Statute for it to indicate provisional measures are met. It is therefore necessary, pending its final decision, for the Court to indicate certain measures in order to protect the rights claimed by South Africa that the Court has found to be plausible (see paragraph 54 above).
THE COURT, Indicates the following provisional measures:
(1) By fifteen votes to two, The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this [Genocide] Convention, in particular:
(a) killing members of the group;
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judge ad hoc Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde; Judge ad hoc Barak;
NOTE: this measure means that Israel has to stop killing, harming, and starving Palestinians in a manner that could be called genocidal.
(2) By fifteen votes to two, The State of Israel shall ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described in point 1 above;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judge ad hoc Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde; Judge ad hoc Barak;
NOTE: this means that those cheering IDF psychopaths singing about “wiping off the seed of Amalek” have to stand down.
(3) By sixteen votes to one, The State of Israel shall take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judges ad hoc Barak, Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde;
NOTE: This could prove tricky, because it is obviously based on the mountain of video evidence provided showing Israeli leadership and other Israeli officials openly inciting the Israeli people and the IDF to commit genocide (e.g., the so-called “Amalek directive”). Bibi will have a hard time reining in the likes of Ben-Gvir and Smoterich.
(4) By sixteen votes to one, The State of Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judges ad hoc Barak, Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde;
NOTE: This means Israel needs to turn the water back on, provide electricity and let those aid trucks roll on!!!
(5) By fifteen votes to two, The State of Israel shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II and Article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judge ad hoc Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde; Judge ad hoc Barak;
NOTE: This means that Israel cannot bury or destroy any evcidence of their crimes.
(6) By fifteen votes to two, The State of Israel shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order within one month as from the date of this Order.
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Vice-President Gevorgian; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Xue, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth, Brant; Judge ad hoc Moseneke;
AGAINST: Judge Sebutinde; Judge ad hoc Barak.
NOTE: This requires Israel to provide in a month a the ICJ with a report describing how they have complied with the ruling.
If you want to take a deeper dive into the decision, this is a good place to start:
Thank you for this concise explanation of each of the measures. I'm still scratching my head and wondering what the heck is wrong with the Ugandan Judge Sebutinde. She voted against every measure, which is more than the ad hoc Israeli judge did!