International Court of Justice issues new orders to Israel on the Gaza War

A lot can change in a year. The military conflict most on the minds of Western publics a year ago was the Russo-Ukraine War.

It would have been a wild guess a year ago to predict that today the nation of Israel would received formal legal orders from the International Court of Justice to refrain from specific military actions and other policies in order to comply with the Genocide Convention.

This video of the ICJ announcing its order today runs just over 30 minutes. It is sobering to hear the description of the actions which have prompted this new ruling being read in solemn judicial manner. (1)



Politico EU reports:

Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the court ruled.

The ICJ also ordered Israel to open the Rafah border crossing with Egypt for the entry of humanitarian aid at scale; ensure access to Gaza for investigators and fact-finding missions; report to the court within a month on its progress in applying these measures.

The court’s rulings are legally binding but the ICJ itself has no enforcement powers. (2)

Ryan Grim and Trita Parsi came out with a quick early take. (3)



The government of Israel can be plausibly expected to ignore the order and complain that its another sign the world is ganging up on poor Israel because anti-Semitism. That’s just the way the Netanyahu government rolls.

The Biden Administration will almost certainly criticize the ICJ’s action while expressing pious concerns about the actions being judged. These expressions of concern will not come with any cutoff of military aid, foreign aid, or military sales to Israel. The Biden Administration at this point will almost certainly continue its unconditional support for Netanyahu’s war against the civilians of Gaza, apart from the no-longer-credible throwaway lines deep reservations or whatever about Israel’s actions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham may well start screeching about how the US should bomb the International Court of Justice.

Both the US and the rest of the world have good reason to be concerned right now about the outcome of this year’s US Presidential elections. And one big reason for concern is that Bibi Netanyahu has strong personal and political incentive to continue the actual war, which is a serious risk for Biden’s reelection prospects because it could very well depress Democratic turnout in key states.

Notes:

(1) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers an Order in the case South Africa v. Israel. Al Jazeera English YouTube channel 05/24/2024. <https://www.youtube.com/live/V-G8aj3CnCk?si=Sg3IJK98QulnQOru> (Accessed: 2024-24-05).

(2) Walker, Ali & Dettmer, Jamie (2024): Israel must halt Rafah offensive, orders UN top court.Politico EU 05/24/2024. <https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-halt-rafah-offensive-orders-un-top-international-court-justice/> (Accessed: 2024-24-05).

(3) BREAKING: ICJ Orders Israel To HALT Invasion. Breaking Points YouTube channel 05/24/2024. <https://youtu.be/42iy4mJ7Q5Q?si=JzduFPf2oFdOLuoH> (Accessed: 2024-24-05).