Palestinians in Gaza say Israel not abiding with ICJ's provisional measures to prevent genocide

Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave accused Israel of not abiding by the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ruling on South Africa's genocide case, which explicitly ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, 26 January, the ICJ in The Hague delivered a ruling on South Africa's genocide case against Israel, ordering Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide acts in Gaza and demanding Israel to report on implementing the measures within one month.

The court, however, did not order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza, one of the main requests submitted by South Africa, while also calling on Hamas to release all Israeli hostages.

But on the ground, for many Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli army forces are still committing genocidal crimes without taking into account the decision of the ICJ. These sentiments were shared by Palestinians in Gaza to The New Arab. 

Earlier in today, the Israeli army committed 16 massacres in various places in the Gaza Strip, killing about 150 Palestinians and wounding at least 313 others, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement. 

"The new deaths increased the total number of the dead people to 26,900 Palestinians, while the number of wounds hit 65,949 Palestinians," the ministry added. 

"It is certain that Israel does not adhere to any decisions regarding the Palestinian people. It only wants to kill the largest possible number of Palestinians and wants to destroy the entire Gaza Strip, not to eliminate Hamas, but to eliminate the Palestinian presence in the coastal enclave," Mohammed Abdul Rahman, a Palestinian man, said to TNA. 

"Initially, I welcomed the ICJ's decision mainly as I thought that it would force Israel to de-escalate its military operation in Gaza, but later I realised that no one can order Israel not to kill us and destroy our houses and our future," the 39-year-old father of three added.

For her part, Bushra Masoud, a displaced woman, was disappointed in the ICJ's decision as she expected that the UN court would adopt a clear decision to immediately end Israel's war on Gaza.

"I looked forward that the ICJ would force Israel to stop its war, but such a decision now just gives Israel more time to kill more and more Palestinians in Gaza," the 52-year-old mother of three told TNA. 

She believes that the world should expend more effort to stop Israel, "either through the UN courts or even going to the streets to demonstrate against the Israeli war and its genocide acts in Gaza."

From another angle, Asem al-Shaer, based in Rafah, welcomed the ICJ's decision, as he believed that "it was the first time they had a chance to count Israel over its crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza."

Al-Shaer said to TNA, "I think Israel will, at least, avoid killing dozens of Palestinians in the same attack or destroying whole residential square as it did several times so far during its war on Gaza."

He believes that the Palestinians can defeat Israel through the international court by providing all the documents that would prove it committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Since 7 October, Israel launched a bloody war on Gaza after the Islamic armed group Hamas undertook an unprecedented military attack on Israeli military bases and settlements within "the Gaza envelope" that killed and captured dozens of Israelis. 

Since then, the Israeli army has carried out a large-scale military attack at most of the besieged war-torn coastal enclave, destroying about 80 per cent of the territory, according to Palestinian officials in Gaza and killing over 26,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children. 

South Africa filed the lawsuit against Israel to the ICJ on Dec. 29, 2023, accusing Israel of violating the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide related to Palestinians in Gaza.