The ICJ is set to deliver its verdict on whether to grant South Africa’s request for “provisional measures” against the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The ruling will not be a final judgement on South Africa’s allegations that Israel violated the Genocide Convention. Rather, provisional measures are an emergency order to stop possible, ongoing violations. They are akin to injunctions granted in civil lawsuits to end actions that possibly cause irreversible damage.
“Provisional measures are necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, which continue to be violated with impunity,” South Africa’s petition reads.
Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice told Al Jazeera earlier this month that provisional measures are not a comprehensive determination in the case.
“They are a decision made to stop rights available to people – in this case under the Genocide Convention – being done away with,” he said.
The International Court of Justice will issue an order on South Africa’s request for provisional measures against Israel this Friday, January 26, the court said in a statement.
It’s important to note that this will not be the final ruling on the case, only on the provisional measures requested by South Africa, to” protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention” and “to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide”, according to the ICJ’s statement.
Israel unleashed its latest war in Gaza after Hamas attacks inside Israel on October 7.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least, 25,700 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, have been killed in the conflict. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are displaced, causing a humanitarian disaster.
The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
