ICJ Says No Need for Additional Measures in Gaza

Facts

• Following an 'urgent request' from South Africa that called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take additional measures against Israel and its military offensive on Gaza, the court declined to take new action. However, it urged Israel to comply with its previous ruling of Jan. 26.¹
• In that ruling, while the court was yet to decide if Israel's actions amounted to genocide as South Africa's application argued, the ICJ said it was plausible that they could. It ordered Israel to take a series of measures that included preventing genocidal acts.²
• But earlier in the week, with Israel looking poised to launch a military offensive on the southern city of Rafah — where 1.4M Palestinians have fled after being displaced from other parts of Gaza — South Africa made the additional request to the court, arguing 'further large-scale killing' would take place if the offensive were to happen.³
• Israel responded to the request on Thursday. It stated that the offensive 'in fact has not happened,' and added that Israel remained committed to following international law with respect to minimizing harm to civilians in Gaza.⁴
• The court issued its ruling on the matter the following day. It said it has taken note of recent developments in Gaza, including in Rafah, and pointed to remarks by the UN Secretary General in which he said that an offensive on the city 'would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences.'⁵
• It added: 'This perilous situation demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024, which are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, and does not demand the indication of additional provisional measures.'⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²OHCHR, ³Sky News, ⁴The Times of Israel and ⁵The International Court of Justice.

Narratives

• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by The Times of Israel. The ICJ has rightly rejected South Africa's highly peculiar and improper request. Israeli forces are doing all they can to protect civilians from harm and are only targeting the terrorists from Hamas. They are in fact the ones to blame as they routinely embed themselves among the civilian population.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. While the court has not decided to impose new measures on Israel, that does not mean it absolves the country of its obligations to prevent a genocide in Gaza. The ICJ ruling simply stated that its previous ruling was sufficient to prevent harm to Palestinians.

Predictions