The highest UN court will make a decision on South Africa’s request for an injunction to stop Israel’s military assault in Gaza on Friday. Pretoria has accused Israel of committing “genocide”.
Pretoria has pleaded with the International Court of Justice to mandate a “immediate” halt to Israel’s campaign, which includes the southern Rafah region, and to make it easier for humanitarian aid to reach the region.
Israel is requesting that the court reject the plea, claiming that enforcing a truce would enable Hamas fighters to reorganize and prevent the release of hostages abducted during their October 7 attack.
In a contentious decision rendered in January, the court told Israel to take all reasonable steps to avert acts of genocide in Gaza, but it refrained from mandating a cease-fire.
South Africa argues that the recent Israeli operation in Rafah changed the situation on the ground and should compel the court to issue fresh emergency orders.
The ICJ rules in disputes between countries. Its orders are legally binding but it has no means to enforce them directly. The court has, for example, ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail.
Judges could agree to South Africa’s request, reject it out of hand or even issue a completely separate set of orders.
The International Criminal Court’s lead prosecutor recently made a historic request to get arrest warrants for prominent Israeli and Hamas figures. This request was followed immediately by the court’s decision.
Senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as high-ranking Hamas officials are accused by Prosecutor Karim Khan of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the October 7 strike and the Gaza conflict.
