GENEVA – A United Nations special rapporteur has welcomed the decision of the UN court on Israel’s onslaught on Gaza but lamented that it did not call for a ceasefire.
The “(International Court of Justice) ICJ has ruled. Almost exactly as I predicted a while ago. No ceasefire and many other provisional measures were granted,” Anadolu Agency reported Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said on X.
“I applaud the court but ask: how many deaths will now continue until the risk of genocide becomes an actual one?”
Balakrishnan had previously posted on X that the ICJ would likely “find it hard to order (a) ceasefire”, noting that while it did order a ceasefire in the case Ukraine had brought against Russia, this was not complied with.
Yesterday, the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza in its ruling on the case filed by South Africa.
The ICJ ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, where it has killed more than 26,000 people since the October 7 Hamas incursion.
South Africa, which filed the case on December 29 last year, had asked the court for an immediate cessation of Israel’s military operation. The court, however, did not grant this request.
In ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide, the court did not make a definitive ruling on whether genocide has occurred in Gaza.
However, it did rule that Israel must take steps to enhance the humanitarian conditions for Palestinians in Gaza.
It also acknowledged the right of Palestinians in the region to be protected from genocidal acts.
During the trial, South Africa argued that Israel’s aerial and ground offensives are aimed at the “destruction of the population” of Gaza.
Israel, in response, urged the court to dismiss the case, asserting its compliance with international law and its right to self-defence. – January 27, 2024