Judges say Israel must prevent genocide

But International Court of Justice stops short of calling for ceasefire

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), has ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent the commission of genocide in relation to Palestinians in Gaza. But the judges turned down a request from South Africa for an order requiring Israel to suspend its military operations in the territory.

The court also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and other armed groups.

Israel has said it is acting in self-defence against a terrorist organisation and has denied that its actions amount to genocide. That issue has yet to be resolved by the ICJ, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Four weeks ago, South Africa launched proceedings at the court under article 9 of the Genocide Convention 1948, which says that disputes between parties to the convention may be submitted to the ICJ. South Africa alleged that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

Article 2 of the convention defines genocide as acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.

Those acts are:

• killing members of the group;

• causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

• deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its

  physical destruction in whole or in part;

• imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

• forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Prof Malcolm Shaw KC, representing Israel, addresses the court on 12 January. South Africa’s lawyers sit to his right

Israel does not deny that the Palestinians are a “group” within the meaning of the convention or that Palestinian civilians are being killed in Gaza. What it disputes is that it is committing genocide — “there can hardly be a charge more false or more malevolent”, it said — and that it intends to commit genocide. “If there have been acts that may be characterised as genocidal,” the Israeli foreign ministry’s legal adviser told the court at a hearing two weeks ago, “then they have been perpetrated against Israel.”

South Africa relied on comments by Israeli politicians to prove intent. Israel has leaked minutes of its cabinet meetings with the intention of demonstrating that these comments were either misunderstood or were no more than political rhetoric.