THE HAGUE, Feb 26 — As the one-month deadline for Israel to act to prevent possible genocide in Gaza — as ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — draws to an end, Tel Aviv is expected on Monday to submit its report on the measures it has taken.
Despite a preliminary ruling in The Hague demanding Israel take measures to prevent acts of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention, 3,523 more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since the January 26 verdict, with the total death toll at nearly 30,000, mostly women and children, Anadolu agency reported.
Tel Aviv, which denies the charges of genocide in the case filed by South Africa late last year, is required to report to the ICJ on all the measures it has taken to implement the court’s ruling.
Israel has continued to target hospitals and schools where Palestinians have taken refuge in Gaza, as well as civilian infrastructure, and is accused of escalating its attacks despite the court orders.
In the one month since the court issued its interim measures, Israeli attacks have killed more than 100 Palestinians per day in Gaza, totalling 1,660 children and 1,070 women. On top of the death toll, thousands unaccounted for are also feared dead under the rubble.
The court had also ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave, but the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported on February 14 that the number of aid trucks entering Gaza had fallen far below the daily target of 500.
Significant obstacles continue to block the entry of humanitarian materials through Gaza’s Kerem Shalom and Rafah gates.
Before Israel launched its offensive and ramped up its blockade on Gaza, the territory had been receiving 500 to 600 trucks daily, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). But in February, daily truck entries fell to fewer than 10 on some days.
The lack of necessities is made worse by the fact that more than two million people have been displaced in Gaza due to Israel’s attacks.
UNRWA announced on February 7 that some of its trucks carrying food aid into Gaza had been bombed, purportedly by Israeli forces, two days earlier.
South Africa filed the ICJ case against Israel on December 29, alleging that Israel violated the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948.
South Africa requested the World Court issue provisional measures due to the urgency of the situation in Gaza, with hearings on the request held from January 11 to 12 at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The ICJ ordered Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent acts defined in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, to prevent, hinder, and punish those calling for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, to eliminate adverse living conditions by providing essential services and humanitarian aid, and to take effective measures to prevent the destruction of evidence showing the violation of the Genocide Convention against Palestinians.
The ICJ also ordered Israel to submit a report on all the measures it has taken within one month from the date of the decision.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since October 7, killing more than 29,690 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
— Bernama-Anadolu
