Here I briefly present, since October 2023, the terrible war situation in Gaza which has caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths; and the situation of human rights violations by Israel in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. I also describe the measures taken by the various UN bodies and reproduce the main texts adopted, as I believe that reading them helps to understand the severity of the situation. However, as of 4 July 2024, these measures have been totally ineffective in stopping the genocide. In my final assessment, I call for the elimination of the UNSC’s right of veto, a veto which, in my opinion, is at the root of the failure of the current international system.
All the sources of information consulted are included in a pdf (only available in Spanish-Castilian) that you will find in the Spanish-Castilian version (castellano) of this entry on this website.
1. The situation in Palestine
1.1. Brief chronology of the war situation in Gaza and the successive reactions to it
a) The war situation
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian military groups carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in the territory bordering Gaza, which led to the killing of 1,139 Israelis (766 civilians and 373 police or military personnel) and the kidnapping of 248 people, to which Israel reacted by killing some 1,500 Palestinian militiamen (according to Israeli sources) and capturing some 200.
Israel declared a state of war that same day, and launched an unprecedented military offensive in the Gaza Strip (although historically speaking this was Israel’s sixth military offensive in Gaza since its unilateral withdrawal in 2005 and following offensives in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021) which began with a bombing campaign on the Strip that lasted until 27 October, after which Israel added to its bombing campaign a ground invasion of the Strip in Operation Iron Swords.
By 23 November, 14,800 people had been killed in Gaza (about 6,000 children and some 4,000 women).
Between 24 and 30 November 2023, a ceasefire was reached through negotiations between the parties, during which Hamas released 105 hostages (81 Israelis, 23 Thais and one Filipino) in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners (107 children and 133 women), three-quarters of whom were in prison without a sentence.
Fighting resumed on 1 December.
From 12 February, Israel announced it would soon begin a ground invasion of Rafah, where 1.6 million people were crowded together from the rest of the Gaza Strip, which the international community and the United States (US) opposed head-on and publicly.
March began with extremely high rates of famine, especially in the northern part of the Strip. From there began the first regional distraction, which consisted of announcing with great fanfare that humanitarian aid would arrive in Gaza by ship from Cyprus (while thousands of trucks waited at the border with Egypt and Israel prevented them from entering the Strip) by the NGO World Central Kitchen, run by Spanish chef José Andrés, who has close ties to the US president. This diversion was aborted on 2 April when Israel bombed and killed seven of the NGO’s foreign aid workers.
Israel left Al Shifa Hospital on 1 April after two weeks of intensive operations that left the hospital totally destroyed.
Israel again insisted on a ground invasion of Rafah and the US again opposed it. The second regional diversion began. Israel bombed and destroyed the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on 1 April 2024, killing 16 people. On the evening of 13 April Iran launched hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles from its territory towards Israel, without causing any fatalities in Israel. On 19 April 2024, at 5:23 a.m., Israel launched an unmanned aerial vehicle attack against Iran, targeting mainly the area around the city of Esfahan, also causing no casualties. This second regional distraction served as an opportunity for the international community to level serious accusations against Iran and again show its support for Israel.
On 5 May, Israel shut down the facilities of the Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera, the international media outlet that had covered the Gaza conflict most extensively from the outset. Finally, the ground invasion of Rafah began on Monday 6 May 2024. As this coincided with pro-Palestinian university protests in the US, Biden, in an election year, temporarily halted the last arms shipment to Israel. Even so, Israel continued to kill civilians in Gaza and especially Rafah with impunity. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Action (OCHA) estimated that as of 19 May, 800,000 Palestinians had been displaced from Rafah to the north of the Strip under Israeli compulsion; while many had died in the “safe zone” to which Israel had forced them to move.
On 8 June, the Nuseirat refugee camp massacre took place in which 274 Palestinians died in the face of Israeli army attacks to free four hostages.
The war has continued. As of 3 July 2024, the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip stands at 37,953 and the number of wounded at 87,266, to which must be added a figure of some 10,000 people missing (and possibly under the rubble). Of the many sources available, UN updates are recommended (https://www.ochaopt.org/updates).
b) Main reactions
As has become clear over the months, Israel ignored intelligence warnings received from various sources regarding the expected Hamas attack, leading to the resignation on 22 April 2024 of the general in charge of Israeli military intelligence.
Already on 13 October 2023, Israeli Jewish professor Raz Segal, an expert on holocaust and genocide, described the situation in Gaza as clear genocide according to the United Nations (UN) Convention against Genocide of December 1948 by fulfilling the two basic requirements: (1) there is intent to destroy a group; and (2) Israel is perpetrating three of the five acts listed in Article II of the Convention.
On 15 October, more than 800 international law experts warned in a communiqué of potential genocide.
From the outset the UN General Assembly (UNGA) called for a humanitarian pause and, given that no agreement could be reached by the permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) – the US vetoed a first resolution on 18 October – on 26 October it issued the emergency resolution ES 10-21 calling for an immediate and durable humanitarian truce; respect for international law; and the establishment of a mechanism to protect the lives of civilians.
An International Humanitarian Conference was held in Paris on 9 November 2023 to support the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing the civilian population of Gaza; a follow-up meeting was also held in Paris on 6 December 2023.
On 15 November the UNSC adopted a first resolution, resolution 2712 (2023), which did not call for a permanent ceasefire, but did demand respect for international humanitarian law (IHL), especially in relation to the protection of civilians.
On 17 November five countries led by South Africa requested the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to extend its investigations into crimes committed in the Occupied Territories since 2014 to Gaza from 8 October 2023, a request joined by Chile and Mexico in January 2024.
On 8 December the UNSC met at the request of the UN Secretary-General (UNSG), in application of the powers of Art. 99 of the UN Charter, but the US vetoed the ceasefire resolution.
On 13 December the US CIA revealed that almost 50% of the air-to-ground bombs used by Israel were “dumb bombs”, unguided bombs, with a major impact on civilians.
On 21 December 2023 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted in a statement that: “hate speech and dehumanising discourse directed at Palestinians raises serious concerns regarding the obligations of Israel and other States parties to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide.
On 22 December 2023 the UNSC adopted resolution 2720 (2023) calling for the provision of humanitarian assistance through all available channels.
On 29 December 2023 South Africa brought a case against Israel in relation to the Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requesting interim measures. The hearing on these provisional measures took place on 11 January 2024 (South Africa) and 12 January (Israel), and on 26 January the ICJ issued its order with 6 provisional measures, which did not include an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza as requested by South Africa.
Following Israel’s announcement on 9 February that it would begin large-scale military operations in Rafah, South Africa requested additional measures from the ICJ on 12 February, which informed the parties on 16 February that the 26 January order applied to all of Gaza, including Rafah. For its part, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk launched an appeal against the invasion of Rafah.
In view of the widespread famine in Gaza, South Africa again requested additional measures on 6 March and on 28 March the ICJ issued a new order with 3 additional measures aimed at alleviating the famine, stressing that the order was binding.
On 25 March the UNSC adopted a new resolution, 2728 (2024), calling for an immediate ceasefire and an expanded flow of humanitarian assistance.
On 5 April the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted a resolution calling on Israel to end the occupation and blockade of Gaza; and on states to end the arms trade with Israel.
On 26 April, protests began at US universities calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. These demonstrations spread to other universities, and began to be harshly repressed by the police authorities, a repression that President Biden supported on 2 May.
On 29 April, similar encampments began at the University of Valencia (Spain), which were followed by some thirty universities in the rest of Spain. Likewise, the “university intifiada” spread to campuses all over the world.
On 5 May, Israel shut down the only channel broadcasting with staff inside Gaza, the Qatari Aljazeera. And, the next day, having played down the witnesses, Israel began the ground incursion into Rafah.
Faced with the tremendous impact of the Rafah invasion, South Africa again requested additional measures on 10 May and on 24 May the ICJ issued a new order with 3 additional measures requesting Israel to immediately halt its incursion into Rafah.
On 17 May, the US began landing humanitarian aid through a temporary port set up in Gaza, but famine led the population to storm the aid trucks, and on 19 May the disembarkation was halted.
On 31 May President Biden announced a three-phase peace plan (temporary ceasefire; permanent cessation of hostilities; reconstruction of Gaza) which was taken to the UNSC and approved by resolution 2735 of 10 June, which Israel has not accepted and is not implementing.
On 11 June another Urgent Humanitarian Response Conference for Gaza took place in Jordan, organised by Jordan, Egypt and the UN.
On 20 June Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that “the idea of destroying Hamas is unattainable, because it is a party that dwells in the hearts of the people and whoever says we can eliminate Hamas is wrong”. The Israeli government responded by pointing out that the destruction of Hamas’s military and organisational capabilities remained one of the objectives of the war.
1.2. Situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
Israel and its settlers have also taken advantage of the war in Gaza to carry out against the Palestinian civilian population, from 7 October 2023 to 3 July 2024, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to data provided by the UN:
– 539 extrajudicial killings, including 131 children, carried out by the Israeli army and/or settlers.
– 5,420 injuries, including 830 children, with one third of these injuries caused by the use of ammunition.
– 1,061 demolitions or confiscations of Palestinian structures, of which 398 were inhabited houses, resulting in the displacement of 2,368 people, including 1047 children.
– 45,600 Palestinian trees destroyed by settlers.
In the same period, according to the same UN source, 14 Israelis (9 soldiers and 5 settlers) have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 105 injured (90 of them soldiers). Inside Israel, 8 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian attacks, and the 4 Palestinian attackers.
In parallel, from 7 October to 21 June 2024 there have been 9,300 arbitrary arrests, including arbitrary arrests of journalists, coupled with allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
These acts have been strongly criticised by the UN High Representative for Human Rights and human rights NGOs.
In particular, the allegation that Israel steals organs and skin from the bodies of Palestinians it kills, an allegation that was already documented in 2009, has again been detected and denounced by the human rights NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
2. Detailed description of the measures taken by the international community
The following is a more detailed description of the measures taken by the international community to try to stop the Zionist genocide in the Gaza Strip, measures which, as of 4 July 2024, have failed to stop it.
2.1. Statements by Senior UN Officials
The UNSG has made countless statements from the outset calling for a permanent ceasefire, all of them extremely harsh towards Israel. On 16 May 2024, it called on Israel to halt its incursion into Rafah and to provide the means for the safe distribution of humanitarian aid whose stocks were stretched to the limit.
For his part, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Türk, has repeatedly called (as on 19 December 2023) for a sustainable ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds. On 12 February 2024, Türk launched an agonising appeal about the devastating consequences of an Israeli military incursion into Rafah, an incursion that Israel began by land on 6 May.
2.2. UNGA Resolutions
From the outset, the UN General Assembly, given the failure of UNSC members to reach agreement – the US vetoed a first resolution to this effect on 18 October 2023 – the General Assembly issued the emergency resolution ES 10-21 on 26 October 2023, with 14 operative paragraphs, as follows:
1. Calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities;
2. Demands that all parties immediately and fully comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly in regard to the protection of civilians and civilian objects, as well as the protection of humanitarian personnel, persons hors de combat, and humanitarian facilities and assets, and to enable and facilitate humanitarian access for essential supplies and services to reach all civilians in need in the Gaza Strip;
3. Also demands the immediate, continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, including but not limited to water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity, stressing the imperative, under international humanitarian law, of ensuring that civilians are not deprived of objects indispensable to their survival;
4. Calls for immediate, full, sustained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and other United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, the International Committee of the Red Cross and all other humanitarian organizations upholding humanitarian principles and delivering urgent assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip, encourages the establishment of humanitarian corridors and other initiatives to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians, and welcomes efforts in this regard;
5. Also calls for the rescinding of the order by Israel, the occupying Power, for Palestinian civilians and United Nations staff, as well as humanitarian and medical workers, to evacuate all areas in the Gaza Strip north of the Wadi Gaza and relocate to southern Gaza, recalls and reiterates that civilians are protected under international humanitarian law and should receive humanitarian assistance wherever they are, and reiterates the need to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians, in particular children, and their protection, and allowing their safe movement;
6. Firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population;
7. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians who are being illegally held captive, demanding their safety, well-being and humane treatment in compliance with international law;
8. Also calls for respect and protection, consistent with international humanitarian law, of all civilian and humanitarian facilities, including hospitals and other medical facilities, as well as their means of transport and equipment, schools, places of worship and United Nations facilities, as well as all of humanitarian and medical personnel and journalists, media professionals and associated personnel, in armed conflict in the region;
9. Stresses the particularly grave impact that armed conflict has on women and children, including as refugees and displaced persons, as well as on other civilians who may have specific vulnerabilities, including persons with disabilities and older persons;
10. Also stresses the need to urgently establish a mechanism to ensure the protection of the Palestinian civilian population, in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions;
11. Further stresses the importance of a humanitarian notification mechanism to ensure the protection of United Nations facilities and all humanitarian installations, and to ensure the unimpeded movement of aid convoys;
12. Emphasizes the importance of preventing further destabilization and escalation of violence in the region, and in this regard calls upon all parties to exercise maximum restraint and upon all those with influence on them to work toward this objective;
13. Reaffirms that a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means, based on the relevant United Nations resolutions and in accordance with international law, and on the basis of the two-State solution;
14. Decides to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.
2.3. UNSC Resolutions
2.3.1. UNSC Resolution 2712 (2023)
The UNSC adopted on 15 November a first resolution, UNSC Resolution 2712 (2023) with seven substantive points, namely:
1. Demands that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to th e protection of civilians, especially children;
2. Calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other impartial humanitarian organizations, to facilitate the continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services important to the well-being of civilians, especially children, throughout the Gaza Strip, including water, electricity, fuel, food, and medical supplies, as well as emergency repairs to essential infrastructure, and to enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts, including for missing children in damaged and destroyed buildings, and including the medical evacuation of sick or injured children and their care givers;
3. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access;
4. Calls on all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian law, which has a disproportionate impact on children, welcomes the initial, although limited, provision of humanitarian supplies to civilians in the Gaza Strip and calls for the scaling up of the provision of such supplies to meet the humanitarian needs of the civilian population, especially children;
5. Underscores the importance of coordination, humanitarian notification, and deconfliction mechanisms, to protect all medical and humanitarian staff, vehicles including ambulances, humanitarian sites, and critical infrastructure, including UN facilities, and to help facilitate the movement of aid convoys and patients, in particular sick and injured children and their care givers;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report orally to the Security Council on the implementation of this resolution at the next mandated meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, and further requests the SecretaryGeneral to identify options to effectively monitor the implementation of this resolution as a matter of prime concern;
7. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
The US, UK and Russia abstained.
2.3.2. UNSC Resolution 2720 (2023)
After much international pressure on the US, UNSC Resolution 2720 (2023) was passed on 22 December 2023, a resolution that does not include permanent ceasefire, but whose paragraph 12 is tremendously important in terms of the day after. The 16 operative paragraphs of this resolution are reproduced below:
1. Reiterates its demand that all parties to the conflict comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, including with regard to the conduct of hostilities and the protection of civilians and civilian objects, humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian personnel and their freedom of movement, and the duty, as applicable, of ensuring the food and medical supplies, among others, of the population, recalls that civilian and humanitarian facilities, including hospitals, medical facilities, schools, places of worship, and facilities of the UN, as well as humanitarian personnel, and medical personnel, and their means of transport, must be respected and protected, according to international humanitarian law, and affirms that nothing in this resolution absolves the parties of these obligations;
2. Reaffirms the obligations of the parties to the conflict under international humanitarian law regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance, demands that they allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip, and in this regard calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities;
3. Demands that the parties to the conflict allow and facilitate the use of all available routes to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip, including border crossings, including full and prompt implementation of the announced opening of the Karem Abu Salem/Kerem Shalom Border Crossing, for the provision of humanitarian assistance in order to ensure that humanitarian personnel and humanitarian assistance, including fuel, food, and medical supplies and emergency shelter assistance, reaches the civilian population in need throughout the Gaza Strip without diversion and through the most direct routes, as well as for material and equipment to repair and ensure the functioning of critical infrastructure and to provide essential services, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to the conflict under internati onal humanitarian law, and stresses the importance of respecting and protecting border crossings and maritime infrastructure used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale;
4. Requests the Secretary-General, with the objective of expediting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, to appoint a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator with responsibility for facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying in Gaza, as appropriate, the humanitarian nature of all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through states which are not party to the conflict, and further requests that the Coordinator expeditiously establish a UN mechanism for accelerating the provision of humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through states which are not party to the conflict, consulting all relevant parties, with the goal of expediting, streamlining, and accelerating the process of providing assistance while continuing to help ensure that aid reaches its civilian destination, and demands that the parties to the conflict cooperate with the Coordinator to fulfil their mandate without delay or obstruction;
5. Requests that the Coordinator be appointed expeditiously;
6. Determines that the Coordinator will have the necessary personnel and equipment in Gaza, under the authority of the United Nations, to perform these, and other functions as determined by the Security Council, and requests that the Coordinator report to the Security Council on its work, with an initial report within 20 days and thereafter every 90 days through 30 September 2024;
7. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address medical needs of all hostages;
8. Demands the provision of fuel to Gaza at levels that will meet requisite humanitarian needs;
9. Calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and in this regard deplores all attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as all violen ce and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism;
10. Reaffirms the obligations of all parties under international humanitarian law, including with regard to respecting and protecting civilians and taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including such objects critical to the delivery of essential services to the civilian population, and with regard to refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as respecting and protecting humanitarian personnel and consignments used for humanitarian relief operations;
11. Reaffirms that civilian objects, including places of refuge, including within United Nations facilities and their surroundings, are protected under international humanitarian law, and rejects forced displacement of the civilian population, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law;
12. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;
13. Demands that all parties to the conflict take all appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel, those of its specialized agencies, and all other personnel engaged in humanitarian relief activities consistent with international humanitarian law, without prejudice to their freedom of movement and access, stresses the need not to hinder these efforts, and recalls that humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected;
14. Demands implementation of resolution 2712 (2023) in full, requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council in writing within five working days of the adoption of this resolution on the implementation of resolution 2712 (2023), and thereafter as necessary, and calls upon all parties concerned to make full use of the humanitarian notification and deconfliction mechanisms in place to protect all humanitarian sites, including UN facilities, and to help facilitate the moveme nt of aid convoys, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to uphold international humanitarian law;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of this resolution in the regular reporting to the Council;
16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
The US and Russia abstained.
On 26 December 2023, pursuant to point 4 of this resolution, the UNSG appointed Dutch politician and diplomat Sigrid Kaag as Senior Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction. On 12 April 2024, the SG appointed Jordanian diplomat Muhannad Hadi as Deputy Coordinator.
2.3.3. UNSC Resolution 2728 (2024)
After again much international pressure on the US, UNSC Resolution 2728 (2024) was successfully passed on 25 March 2024, which:
1. Demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain;
2. Emphasizes the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale, in line with international humanitarian law as well as resolutions 2712 (2023) and 2720 (2023);
3. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
The US abstained.
2.3.4. UNSC Resolution 2735 (2024)
After again much international pressure on the US, UNSC resolution 2735 (2024) was adopted on 10 June 2024, with 14 votes in favour and Russia abstaining, which:
1. Welcomes the new ceasefire proposal announced on May 31, which Israel accepted, calls upon Hamas to also accept it, and urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition;
2. Notes that the implementation of this proposal would enable the following outcomes to spread over three phases:
(a) Phase 1: an immediate, full, and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north, as well as the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout the Gaza Strip to all Palestinian civilians who need it, including housing units delivered by the international community;
(b) Phase 2: upon agreement of the parties, a permanent end to hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; and
(c) Phase 3: the start of a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of any deceased hostages still in Gaza to their families;
3. Underlines that the proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue, and welcomes the readiness of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to work to ensure negotiations keep going until all the agreements are reached and phase two is able to begin;
4. Stresses the importance of the parties adhering to the terms of this proposal once agreed and calls upon all Member States and the United Nations to support its implementation;
5. Rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza;
6. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;
7. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Russia abstained because, in its view, the process of negotiating this resolution had not been transparent and there was no clarity on whether Israel would support it; but indicated that it did not veto it because the Arab world supported it.
As of 3 July 2024, Israel had still not accepted the ceasefire proposal announced by US President Biden on 31 May (and referred to in operative point 1 of this resolution).
2.4. Human Rights Council Resolutions
On 5 April 2024 the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted resolution 55/28 on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, with 47 substantive points:
1. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and stresses that all efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be grounded in respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law and relevant United Nations resolutions;
2. Also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment;
3. Calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, in particular through crossings and land routes, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza;
4. Calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza, in compliance with their obligations under international law;
5. Warns against any large-scale military operations in the city of Rafah, and their ensuing devastating humanitarian consequences;
6. Condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza, the unlawful denial of humanitarian access, wilful impediment to relief supplies and deprivation of objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including food, water, electricity, fuel and telecommunications, by Israel, the occupying Power;
7. Expresses grave concern at statements by Israeli officials amounting to incitement to genocide, and demands that Israel uphold its legal responsibility to prevent genocide and fully abide by the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice on 26 January 2024;
8. Deplores the ongoing policy of Israel to impose punitive measures on the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society, and calls upon Israel to end its practice of “withholding” Palestinian tax revenues;
9. Stresses the imperative of credible, timely and comprehensive accountability for all violations of international law in order to attain justice for victims and establish a just and sustainable peace;
10. Welcomes the ongoing investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and looks forward to its continuation, with a view to ensuring accountability for the crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction;
11. Reiterates that all measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in violation of the relevant provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council are illegal and have no validity;
12. Affirms that no State shall recognize as lawful a situation created by a serious breach by a State of an obligation arising under a peremptory norm of general international law, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation, and that all States shall cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means any serious breach;
13. Recognizes the grave violations of multiple peremptory norms by Israel, and calls upon all States to ensure that their arms exports do not contribute to or benefit from this unlawful situation;
14. Calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in order to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights, and to refrain, in accordance with international norms and standards, from the export, sale or transfer of surveillance goods and technologies and less-lethal weapons, including “dual-use” items, when they assess that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such goods, technologies or weapons might be used to violate or abuse human rights;
15. Deplores the persistent non-cooperation of Israel with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and other United Nations mechanisms seeking to investigate alleged violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and calls for its full cooperation with the Council and all its special procedures, relevant mechanisms and inquiries and with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
16. Demands that Israel grant immediate access to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner;
17. Also demands that Israel, the occupying Power, cease all illegal actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, including the establishment and expansion of settlements; the demolition of privately owned and residential structures belonging to Palestinians, including punitive home demolitions; the forcible transfer of Palestinian inhabitants and the revocation of residency permits of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem through various discriminatory laws; excavations in and around religious and historic sites; and all other unilateral measures aimed at altering the character, status and demographic composition of the territory as a whole, all of which have, inter alia, a grave and detrimental impact on the human rights of the Palestinian people and the prospects for a just and peaceful settlement;
18. Further demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal obligations under international law, as mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice and demanded by the General Assembly in its resolutions ES-10/13 of 21 October 2003 and ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004, and that it immediately cease the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, dismantle forthwith the structure situated therein, repeal or render ineffective all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto, and make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall, which has had a grave impact on the human rights and the socioeconomic living conditions of the Palestinian people;
19. Calls upon Israel to immediately cease its demolitions or plans for demolition that would result in the continued forcible transfer or forced eviction of Palestinians, to facilitate the return of Palestinian families and communities already subjected to forcible transfer or eviction to their original dwellings and to ensure adequate housing and legal security of tenure;
20. Expresses grave concern at the restrictions imposed by Israel that impede the access of Christian and Muslim worshippers to holy sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and calls upon Israel to ensure non-discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and the preservation of and peaceful access to all religious sites;
21. Reaffirms the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power, to respect the right to health of all persons within the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to facilitate the immediate, sustained and unfettered passage of humanitarian relief, including the access of medical personnel, the entry of humanitarian equipment, transport and supplies to all areas under occupation and the granting of exit permits for patients in need of medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip, and stresses the need for the unhindered passage of ambulances at checkpoints, especially in times of conflict;
22. Urges Israel to end its discriminatory water resource allocation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Jordan Valley area, which has been affected by the destruction of the wells of local civilians, roof water tanks and other water and irrigation facilities under military and settler operation since 1967;
23. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply fully with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that it cease all measures and actions taken in breach of these bodies of law, as well as discriminatory legislation, policies and actions in the Occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, including those carried out as collective punishment in violation of international humanitarian law, and its obstruction of humanitarian assistance and independent and impartial actions of civil society;
24. Also demands that Israel take immediate measures to prohibit and eradicate all of its discriminatory policies and practices, which severely and disproportionately affect the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, by terminating the system of segregated roads for the exclusive use of the Israeli population, the settlement enterprise and the restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians and by dismantling the illegal wall;
25. Reaffirms that criticism of violations of international law by Israel should not be conflated with antisemitism;
26. Reiterates the need for respect for the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and for guarantees of the freedom of movement of persons and goods within the Palestinian territory, including movement into and from East Jerusalem, into and from the Gaza Strip, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to and from the outside world;
27. Condemns all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction, including unlawful lethal and other excessive use of force by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians, including against civilians with special protected status under international law and who pose no imminent threat to life;
28. Also condemns the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects by Israel in populated areas in Gaza and the use of artificial intelligence to aid military decisionmaking that may contribute to the commission of international crimes;
29. Expresses grave concern at the reverberating effects of the use of explosive weapons on hospitals, schools, water, electricity and shelter, which are affecting millions of Palestinians;
30. Condemns the firing of rockets against Israeli civilian areas, resulting in loss of life and injury, and calls for an end to all actions by militants and armed groups contrary to international law;
31. Also condemns the targeting of civilians, including on 7 October 2023, and demands the immediate release of all remaining hostages, persons arbitrarily detained and victims of enforced disappearance as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access to the hostages and detainees in line with international law;
32. Calls upon all States to abide by international law and all High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions, and to fulfil their obligations under articles 146, 147 and 148 of the Fourth Geneva Convention with regard to penal sanctions, grave breaches and the responsibilities of the High Contracting Parties;
33. Urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance, including humanitarian relief and development assistance, to the Palestinian people to alleviate the financial crisis and the dire socioeconomic and humanitarian situation, particularly in the Gaza Strip, emphasizes the vital role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in providing basic and necessary services for millions of Palestinians in the region, and calls upon all States to ensure that the Agency receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate;
34. Calls for an end to all ongoing policies of harassment, threats, intimidation and reprisals, detention and expulsion against human rights defenders, journalists, media workers and civil society actors who peacefully advocate for the rights of the Palestinian people, including by cooperating with United Nations human rights bodies, calls for their protection, and underscores the need to investigate all such acts and to ensure accountability and effective remedies;
35. Expresses concern at the spread of disinformation and propaganda, including on the Internet, which can be designed and implemented to mislead, to violate human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, to spread hatred, racism, xenophobia, negative stereotyping or stigmatization and to incite violence, discrimination and hostility, and emphasizes the important contribution by journalists in countering this trend;
36. Calls upon Israel to revoke all unsubstantiated designations of Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organizations as terrorist or unlawful organizations and to refrain from using anti-terrorism legislation to undermine civil society and its valuable work and contributions to the pursuit of accountability;
37. Affirms that undue restrictions imposed by States on peaceful protests and civil society working to protect human rights and advocating for respect of international law in the context of the military assault on Gaza run contrary to the obligations of States under international law;
38. Expresses deep concern at the conditions of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including minors, in Israeli jails and detention centres and at the continued use of administrative detention, and calls upon Israel to explicitly prohibit torture, including psychological torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to fully respect and abide by its obligations under international law towards all Palestinian prisoners and detainees in its custody, including by ensuring access to medical care, to implement fully the agreement reached in May 2012 for a prompt and independent investigation into all cases of death in custody and to release immediately all Palestinian prisoners, including Palestinian legislators, detained in violation of international law;
39. Demands that Israel cease its policy of transferring prisoners from the Occupied Palestinian Territory into the territory of Israel and respect fully its obligations under article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention;
40. Reaffirms that children shall be the object of special respect and shall be protected against any form of indecent assault, emphasizes that any arrest, detention or trial of Palestinian children by Israel is in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and notes that the Israeli policy of holding criminal proceedings against children in military courts is illegal and falls short of providing the necessary guarantees to ensure respect for their rights and infringes upon their right to non-discrimination;
41. Emphasizes the need to ensure that all those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law are held to account through appropriate, fair and independent national or international criminal justice mechanisms and to ensure the provision of an effective remedy for all victims, including full reparations, and stresses the need to pursue practical steps towards these goals to ensure justice for all victims and to contribute to the prevention of future violations and international crimes;
42. Invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland, in its capacity as depositary of the Fourth Geneva Convention, promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to ensure its respect in accordance with article 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions, bearing in mind the statement adopted by the Conference of the High Contracting Parties on 15 July 1999 and the declarations adopted by the Conference on 5 December 2001 and 17 December 2014;
43. Requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying Power, including those that have been used during the Israeli military operation in Gaza since 7 October 2023, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, applying international humanitarian law, customary international law related to State responsibility and the Arms Trade Treaty, where applicable, and to present its report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-ninth session;
44. Requests the Secretary-General, in view of the unprecedent magnitude of crimes and violations, to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate, in particular investigative and outreach expertise, and in the areas of legal analysis and evidence-collection;
45. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to its country office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
46. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue;
47. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
It was adopted with 28 votes in favour, 13 abstentions and 6 against (Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay, USA).
2.5. ICC case of South Africa vs. the Israeli leadership
In 2018 Palestine referred crimes committed in the Occupied Territories since 13 June 2014 to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The OTP initiated an investigation, in the context of which it asked Pre-Trial Chamber I for an opinion on the ICJ’s “territorial jurisdiction” and this Chamber, in its February 2021 decision, concluded, by a majority, that yes, the ICJ’s “territorial jurisdiction” extends to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. In March 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor announced the opening of investigations.
On 17 November 2023, five countries led by South Africa submitted a request to the OTP to extend its investigations into Gaza from 7/10/2023, similar to the request made by Chile and Mexico on 18/01/2024.
On 20 May 2024, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for three Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, Mohamed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri and Ismail Haniyah.
2.6. South Africa v. Israel ICJ case: Genocide Convention
2.6.1. South Africa requested nine provisional measures
Against this backdrop of utter despair at the sticks in the wheels the US was putting in the way of a permanent ceasefire, South Africa, a country that like the Palestinians also experienced apartheid first-hand, filed a case against Israel on 29 December 2023 with the ICJ in relation to the Genocide Convention, to which both countries are parties. It is formally called South Africa v. Israel: Genocide Convention. The South African application seeks nine interim measures of protection for the civilian population of Gaza. Given the urgency, the ICJ summoned the parties to a public hearing on the interim measures on 11 and 12 January and issued a first order on those measures on 26 January.
Particularly shocking are the allegations contained in paragraph 114 of the South African brief which details different headings of the collective punishment to which Israel is subjecting the population of Gaza:
(1) killing Palestinians in Gaza, including a large proportion of women and children — estimated to account for around 70 per cent of the more than 21,110 fatalities — some of whom appear to have been summarily executed;
(2) causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinians in Gaza, including through maiming, psychological trauma, and inhuman and degrading treatment;
(3) causing the forced evacuation and displacement of around 85 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza — including children, the elderly and infirm, and the sick and wounded — as well as causing the large scale destruction of Palestinian homes, villages, refugee camps, towns and entire areas in Gaza, precluding the return of a significant proportion of the Palestinian people to their homes;
(4) causing widespread hunger, dehydration and starvation to besieged Palestinians in Gaza, through the impeding of sufficient humanitarian assistance, the cutting off of sufficient water, food, fuel and electricity, and the destruction of bakeries, mills, agricultural lands and other methods of production and sustenance;
(5) failing to provide and restricting the provision of adequate shelter, clothes, hygiene or sanitation to Palestinians in Gaza, including the 1.9 million internally displaced people, compelled by Israel’s actions to live in dangerous situations of squalor, alongside the routine targeting and destruction of places of shelter and the killing and wounding of those sheltering, including women, children, the disabled and the elderly;
(6) failing to provide for or to ensure the provision for the medical needs of Palestinians in Gaza, including those medical needs created by other genocidal acts causing serious bodily harm, including through directly attacking Palestinian hospitals, ambulances and other healthcare facilities in Gaza, killing Palestinian doctors, medics and nurses, including the most qualified medics in Gaza, and destroying and disabling Gaza’s medical system; and
(7) destroying Palestinian life in Gaza, through the destruction of Gaza’s universities, schools, courts, public buildings, public records, stores, libraries, churches, mosques, roads, infrastructure, utilities and other facilities necessary to the sustained life of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, alongside the killing of entire family groups — erasing entire oral histories in Gaza — and the killing of prominent and distinguished members of society.
(8) Imposing measures intended to prevent Palestinian births in Gaza, through the reproductive violence inflicted on Palestinian women, newborn babies, infants, and children.
The nine interim measures requested by South Africa, set out in paragraph 144 of the South African submission, were:
(1) The State of Israel shall immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.
(2) The State of Israel shall ensure that any military or irregular armed units which may be directed, supported or influenced by it, as well as any organisations and persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, take no steps in furtherance of the military operations referred to point (1) above.
(3) The Republic of South Africa and the State of Israel shall each, in accordance with their obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to the Palestinian people, take all reasonable measures within their power to prevent genocide.
(4) The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to the Palestinian people as agroup protected by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, desist from the commission of any and all acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention, in particular:
(a) killing members of the group;
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to the members of the group;
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
(5) The State of Israel shall, pursuant to point (4)(c) above, in relation to Palestinians, desist from, and take all measures within its power including the rescinding of relevant orders, of restrictions and/or of prohibitions to prevent:
(a) the expulsion and forced displacement from their homes;
(b) the deprivation of:
(i) access to adequate food and water;
(ii) access to humanitarian assistance, including access to adequate fuel, shelter, clothes, hygiene and sanitation;
(iii) medical supplies and assistance; and
(c) the destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza.
(6) The State of Israel shall, in relation to Palestinians, ensure that its military, as well as any irregular armed units or individuals which may be directed, supported or otherwise influenced by it and any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any acts described in (4) and (5) above, or engage in direct and public incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, or complicity in genocide, and insofar as they do engage therein, that steps are taken towards their punishment pursuant to Articles I, II, III and IV of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
(7) The State of Israel shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; to that end, the State of Israel shall not act to deny or otherwise restrict access by fact-finding missions, international mandates and other bodies to Gaza to assist in ensuring the preservation and retention of said evidence.
(8) The State of Israel shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order within one week, as from the date of this Order, and thereafter at such regular intervals as the Court shall order, until a final decision on the case is rendered by the Court.
(9) The State of Israel shall refrain from any action and shall ensure that no action is taken which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.
2.6.2. South Africa set out its position on 11 January 2024
South African counsel Tembeka Ngcukaitobi presented perhaps the most crucial part: Israel’s genocidal intent.
In relation to the ICJ’s prima facie jurisdiction, a part defended by the elderly South African professor of international law John Dugard, he based this on the fact that both South Africa and Israel were parties to the Geneva Convention against Genocide (a short convention with only 16 articles) and neither had entered reservations to Article IX (Art. 9) of that Convention which reads: “Disputes between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation, application or execution of the present Convention, including disputes concerning the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in Article III, shall, at the request of one of the Parties to the dispute, be submitted to the International Court of Justice”.
Having established this, the Irish-British lawyer Blinne Ni Ghrálaigh, in an impeccable intervention in which she put figures to the barbarity (the war that Israel is carrying out every day is killing 117 children, 3 health workers, 2 teachers, 1 UN official and 1 journalist), is leaving 629 people wounded; 39 people injured and 39 injured; is leaving 629 people wounded; 3900 houses damaged or destroyed; ), he justified the urgency of the interim measures by the great risk of irreparable damage (irreparable prejudice) to the Palestinian population, if these measures were not approved. He added that “if interim measures were justified in the case of Qatar v. UAE where people were forced to leave their place of residence and some 150 students were unable to take their exams, how can they not be justified in Gaza where 625,000 students have been unable to attend classes for three months; 90,000 university students are unable to attend classes; and hundreds of teachers have been killed which destroys the future…”. Finally, he brought up the case of Congo v. Uganda in which the ICJ had stated that the fact that this occurs in a context of armed conflict does not prejudge interim measures. Nor would a simple increase in humanitarian aid prevent irreparable harm, as the ICJ found in Armenia v. Azerbaijan. The problem, as the UN has pointed out, is that “the way Israel is conducting military operations does not allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid, no one is safe anywhere. If Israel does not stop its military attacks, the dire situation facing the civilian population of Gaza will not end and they will be at risk of irreparable harm. And the Genocide Convention is much more than a legal procedure, it is first and foremost the confirmation and endorsement of the basic principles of morality”. And despite the theoretical recognitions contained in the Convention, the international community failed the people of Rwanda, Bosnia and the Rohingya, who asked the ICJ to make a move. And it failed the Palestinians by ignoring the warnings of potential genocide that international experts began issuing on 19 October.
British counsel Vaughan Lowe explained in detail why South Africa could not go against Hamas under the Genocide Convention, and insisted on the reasons why all military operations must cease; that, while there were exceptions to the application of the Convention, he hoped they would not be upheld by the ICJ; that the exercise of the right of self-defence can neither justify nor be a defence of genocide; and that unilateral commitments by Israel are not sufficient and can lead to such dire consequences that they should be disregarded.
2.6.3. Israel set out its position on 12 January 2024
Israel constantly emphasised the terrorist character of Hamas (without mentioning that it was Israel that first created and strengthened Hamas); Hamas’s will to destroy Israel (without mentioning a word that this is linked to Israel’s systematic and sustained violations of the Palestinian people’s human rights over time); and that South Africa had failed to demonstrate either intent or prima facie jurisdiction and had presented the facts in a confused manner.
Israel also excused statements by senior members of the Israeli Defence Forces ( IDF ) that the Palestinian animals had to be killed as being due to displeasure at the 7 October events; and insisted that the IAF had a unity, unity, unity and unity of purpose: that the IAF had a unit, COGAT, which had been distributing food, which had supported the opening of seven bakeries; which had coordinated the shipment of bottled water, 4 field hospitals and 2 floats; that the supply of diesel and natural gas had never been interrupted (when the UN has been denouncing this from the beginning); that all interim measures requested by South Africa in an attempt to dismantle one by one the jurisprudential cases presented by the South African side should be denied; and that this case should be struck from the list. In short, the Israeli narrative had very few compelling legal arguments. As much as Israel repeated throughout its three-hour speech that “Israel has been firmly committed to international law since the establishment of the State of Israel”, the fact that it has not complied with any of the UNGA or UNSC resolutions mandating the safeguarding of Palestinian civilian lives speaks for itself.
The day after the public hearing in which Israel participated, on 13 January 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already said publicly that regardless of what The Hague (in reference to the ICJ) said, he would continue the war…. It would seem that he, like a good Zionist, cares little about the fate of the 136 people still held by Hamas, not because Hamas might harm them (the people who were released during the only humanitarian pause so far confirmed that the Palestinian armed groups had treated them well), but because the levels of warfare are such that it is probably almost impossible for the Palestinian armed groups to protect these 136 people from Israeli bombardment.
Encouragingly for the future, on 9 January 2023, more than 600 Israelis sent a letter to the ICJ expressing support for the South African case, stating that the Israeli government is taking “systematic measures to annihilate, starve, abuse and displace the people of Gaza”.
2.6.4. ICJ issues interim measures order on 26 January 2024
On 26 January 2024 the ICJ issued an order in which, specifically in its paragraph 54, it stated that: “In the opinion of the Court, the facts and circumstances referred to above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it seeks protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians of Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts identified in Article III, and the right of South Africa to seek compliance by Israel with the latter’s obligations under the Convention.”
Based on this plausibility of genocide, the ICJ issued six interim measures, not including the suspension of military operations. Specifically, the ICJ ordered that:
(1) The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular:
(a) killing members of the group;
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(2) The State of Israel shall ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any acts described in point 1 above;
(3) The State of Israel shall take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip;
(4) The State of Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip;
(5) The State of Israel shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II and Article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip;
(6) The State of Israel shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order within one month as from the date of this Order.
2.6.5. South Africa requested additional measures on 12 February and ICJ issued decision on 16 February
Following Israel’s announcement on 9 February that it intended to launch large-scale military operations in Rafah, South Africa filed a request for additional measures on 12 February and Israel filed submissions on 15 February.
On 16 February the ICJ informed the parties of its decision that its 26 January order applied to the whole of Gaza, including Rafah, and that no additional measures were necessary.
2.6.6. South Africa requested additional measures on 6 March and the ICJ issued an order on 28 March
In the face of the widespread famine in Gaza, South Africa again requested additional measures on 6 March, and Israel filed submissions on 15 March.
On 28 March the ICJ issued a new order with three provisional measures:
(1) Reaffirms the provisional measures indicated in its Order of 26 January 2024;
(2) Indicates the following provisional measures: The State of Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza, in particular the spread of famine and starvation:
(a) Take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza, including by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary;
(b) Ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit acts which constitute a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance;
(3) Decides that the State of Israel shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order, within one month as from the date of this Order.
The press release accompanying the order emphasises that the order has binding effect.
2.6.7. The ICJ set the dates for the filing of written submissions
In an order issued on 5 April, the ICJ gives South Africa until 28 October 2024 to submit its written pleadings (memorial) and Israel until 28 July 2025 to submit its written pleadings (counter-memorial).
2.6.8. South Africa requested additional measures on 10 May and ICJ issued order on 24 May
Faced with the entry of Israeli troops into Rafah, South Africa submitted an urgent request for additional measures on 10 May. On 16 May, South Africa outlined its request in a public session calling for an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in Rafah and Gaza; access for humanitarian aid and personnel for its distribution; access for commissions of enquiry into the crimes committed; and access for journalists to secure evidence of the crimes. On 17 May, Israel intervened, rejecting the request for additional measures.
On 24 May the ICJ issued a new order stating that Israel’s ground intervention in Rafah from 7 May had seriously worsened the situation in Gaza and therefore:
(1) Reaffirms the provisional measures indicated in its Orders of 26 January 2024 and 28 March 2024, which should be immediately and effectively implemented;
(2) Indicates the following provisional measures: The State of Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in the Rafah Governorate:
(a) 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;
(b) Maintain open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance;
(c) Take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide;
(3) Decides that the State of Israel shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order, within one month as from the date of this Order.
2.6.9. Other countries have requested permission to intervene in support of South Africa
Nicaragua applied to the ICJ on 23 January 2024 for permission to intervene; Colombia on 5 April; Libya on 10 May; Mexico on 24 May; Palestine on 3 June; and Spain on 28 June.
2.6.10. Judgement may not be reached until 2029 or 2030
Developments in the case can be followed on the ICJ’s own website.
It is very difficult to predict when the judgment on the merits will be delivered. Although no two court cases are the same, the timelines of a case also for genocide, Gambia v Myanmar, following the genocide in Myanmar in 2017 against the Muslim Rohingya minority that Gambia brought to the ICJ in November 2019, can give a tentative idea of the timelines in a genocide proceeding. Thus, The Gambia initiated the case on 29/11/2019 in which it also requested provisional measures. The public hearings on these measures took place in December 2019.
The ICJ issued its order for provisional measures on 23/01/2020. On the same day it set a date for Gambia’s memorial (23/07/2020) and for Myanmar’s counter-memorial (25/01/2021). Upon Gambia’s request for an extension of time, the ICJ extended the deadlines to 23/10/2020 and 23/07/2021.
The Gambia submitted its Memorial within the extended deadline. On 20/01/2021 Myanmar filed preliminary objections that led to the suspension of the trial on the merits, and on which the ICJ ruled by judgment of 22/07/2022 in the sense of affirming that the ICJ did have jurisdiction in this case and that therefore the Gambian request was admissible, and set a new deadline of 24/04/2023 for Myanmar’s counter-memorial. After two successive requests by Myamar to extend the deadline to 22/08/2023, Myamar filed its counter-memorial within the deadline.
At a hearing on 26/09/2023, The Gambia requested 7 months to prepare a reply to Myanmar’s counter-memorial. The ICJ set 16/05/2024 as the deadline for Gambia’s reply and 16/12/2024 for Myanmar’s counter-reply.
In parallel, on 15/11/2023 six countries (Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) jointly requested to participate in the proceedings, as did the Maldives.
By December 2024, more than five years will have passed without a judgment on the merits, and the judgment on the merits will still be some time (one or two years?) after the receipt of the counter-reply, so the judgment on the merits may not be ready until 2025 or 2026.
A judgement on the merits in the Gaza case, if it follows similar lines to the Gambia v Myanmar case for the Rohingyas, may not come until 2029 or 2030.
3. Assessment
Israel, with its position of political, military and informational strength and its powerful war machine, has taken the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, at a very limited cost both in terms of Israeli lives and other (e.g., reverse outward migration of 550,000 Israelis from Israel to the countries from which they are dual nationals from October 2023 to April 2024).
Although the ICJ will not issue a ruling for several years, it has already ruled on the plausibility of genocide and has therefore issued several orders for interim measures.
Unfortunately, the declarations, resolutions and interim measures adopted by the various UN bodies (UNSG, UNGA, UNSC, UNHRC, ICJ) or by the ICC have failed to put an end to Israeli military operations, nor have they succeeded in forcing Israel to allow sufficient humanitarian aid to pass through and be safely distributed. Israel has not complied with any of these measures because it continues to enjoy impunity due to US overprotection, and although as an occupying power Israel is not subject to Article 51 of the UN Charter on self-defence, Israel continues to invoke it.
There are two measures that have not yet been articulated that have contributed to conflict resolution in the past, but require UNSC approval and would be vetoed by the US:
1. Economic sanctions. Although the Israeli economy contracted by 19% in the last quarter of 2023, it rebounded in 2024.
2. Arms embargo. Israel has dropped 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza from October 2023 until this April. UN experts have been calling for this embargo for months, as Israel is clearly in violation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which prohibits arms sales when there is a well-founded suspicion of genocide.
Outside the UN framework, Arab hydrocarbon-exporting countries would be able to articulate an oil and gas embargo on the US and those countries that support Israel in order to force it to end the war. However, while these Arab countries successfully implemented an oil embargo in 1973, the situation is now very different and it is unlikely that they would be willing to implement it or, if implemented, that it would have a real deterrent effect as Western countries’ dependence on Arab hydrocarbons is much less.
Finally, I would like to recall that a significant part of the Jewish community has tirelessly supported the ceasefire; and Jewish scholars of the Holocaust have criticised the Israeli authorities for misusing the Holocaust in the context of the Gaza war.
In conclusion, the UN has no capacity to stop wars that involve, directly or indirectly, countries with veto power in the UNSC. The current system does not work. For it to work, the UN must be reformed and the veto rights of its current five permanent members must be removed. However, articles 108 and 109 of the UN Charter (which set out the mechanisms for reforming the organisation) require unanimity of the five permanent members for any reform. And given that these five countries will never give up this right of veto of their own accord, if the system is to work, innovative dynamics will be necessary, led by civil societies at the global level that demand this change.Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but the alternative is to continue as before: filling pages with good intentions while thousands of human beings suffer and die.
Hopefully, the tremendous suffering that has been and continues to be experienced in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the suffering that has been and continues to be experienced by the families of the hostages and the families of the deceased Israeli soldiers, will serve to change the dynamics and rules of the current political game in Israel, in Palestine and between Israel and Palestine. Israel’s Zionist leadership remains committed to its underground goal of Greater Israel and therefore will never allow a viable Palestinian state. That has to change. The Palestinian people have the same right as the Israeli people to live in dignity, justice, peace, democracy and respect for the full range of their human rights. Hopefully we will achieve that and hopefully we will achieve it soon.
