The Hague, May 23, (dpa/GNA) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to rule on Friday on further legal steps to prevent the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in response to a South African application.
The ICJ said on Thursday that the ruling would be announced during a public sitting at the Peace Palace in the Dutch city at 3 pm (1300 GMT). ICJ presiding judge Nawaf Salam will read out the court’s order.
The ruling refers to a request by South Africa on May 10 this year concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip and an urgent application for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to withdraw from the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
While the top UN court’s rulings are binding, the court has no means of forcing compliance. It can, however, call on the UN Security Council to act.
In its May 10 application, which followed earlier applications dating back to December last year, South Africa said it had returned to the court for further provisional measures as a result of Israel’s ongoing military assault on Rafah.
“The situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” it said.
In earlier rulings, the ICJ instructed Israel to take protective measures to prevent genocide and also allow more humanitarian aid to the population.
When the court will rule finally on the genocide application remains unclear. Legal experts predict that the process could take years.
Israel has rejected all the allegations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoking the country’s right to self-defence in response to the attack mounted by Hamas and other groups on October 7.
GNA