Israel’s ‘crimes of all crime’ continue in breach of ICJ orders on Gaza

Israel continues to commit crimes of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip in breach of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

The court in The Hague, the highest UN legal body, issued an order two weeks ago, requiring the regime to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities that could constitute genocide in the besieged territory.

The rights group said Saturday that the regime’s forces continue to carry out systematic and widespread destruction of residential areas and neighborhoods, civilian infrastructure, and facilities.

Since the court’s ruling two weeks ago, the Euro-Med said, Israel’s military forces have killed 1,864 Palestinians, including 690 children and 441 women, in addition to injuring more than 2,933 people.

“Thus, Israel continues to violate its international obligations and the decision of the highest court in the world by committing the crime of all crimes – the crime of genocide.”

In an interview with the Guardian, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese, said that despite the court’s ruling, the violence and the demolition of civilian infrastructure had continued in Gaza.

“The fatalities are not solely the result of bombings and sniper attacks,” she said.

“They also occur due to a scarcity of medical supplies and treatment, and, most distressingly, due to inadequate access to food and potable water, forcing consumption of contaminated or polluted water.”

South Africa, a signatory to the United Nations Genocide Convention, lodged the case against Israel with the World Court in late December. 

Lawyers say that the extent of Israel’s compliance with the court’s orders is a test not only of the top court’s authority but of other signatories to the genocide convention.

The treaty defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

All countries that signed the convention are obliged to not commit genocide and also to prevent and punish it. Israel is a signatory of the Genocide Convention too.