World Court to rule on Gaza war

The ruling will be delivered at 1pm (Dutch time) on Friday at the International Court of Justice in a hearing expected to last about an hour. The UN judges will not address the core issue of the case, whether Israel’s military operations in Gaza constituted genocide, but will instead focus on the urgent intervention sought by South Africa.

Panorama of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: Reuters

Among the measures South Africa has demanded is an immediate halt to Israel's military operations, which have devastated large parts of the enclave and killed more than 25,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.

South Africa also asked for nine emergency measures that would act like an injunction, and wants the court to order Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza, as well as allow more humanitarian aid and investigate and prosecute possible Israeli violations.

Two weeks ago, South Africa accused Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, arguing that Israel's air and ground attacks were aimed at "devastating the population" in Gaza.

Israel has denied the allegations and asked the court to drop the genocide case altogether. An Israeli government spokesman said on Thursday (January 25) that they expected the UN's top court to "reject these spurious and speculative allegations."

Israel says it respects international law and has the right to defend itself when Hamas militants launched a cross-border attack on October 7. Israeli officials say Hamas killed at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostages.

The 17-judge panel will only decide whether to impose provisional measures and whether there is a legitimate risk that Israel's activities violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In addition, the court is not bound to comply with South Africa's requests and can take its own measures if it finds it has jurisdiction at this stage of the case.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/toa-an-the-gioi-sap-ra-phan-quyet-ve-chien-su-o-gaza-post282586.html