ICJ case against Israel: What’s at stake? • FRANCE 24 English

ICJ case against Israel: What’s at stake? • FRANCE 24 English

Israel is at the international court of justice Friday defending its military operation in Gaza the United Nations top court is holding a third round of hearings on emergency measures requested by South Africa now South Africa wants the court to order a ceasefire in Gaza Israel to told the court on Friday that South Africa’s case quote makes a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide and the session was briefly interrupted by a protester as Israel’s representative again reading the closing statement have a look only the state of Israel requests the court to reject the request for the modification and indication of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of South Africa Liars Liars for more on this story we’re joined by Rosa fredman she is a professor of law conflict and Global development at the University of reading in England thank you so much for taking the time to join us on France 24 today now South Africa has submitted four requests for the icj to investigate Israel in this latest one South Africa says the military incursion in Rafa threatens the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza how has the Court ruled already after previous hearings and what’s at stake in this latest case so let’s be clear the rulings of the court so far are on what’s called provisional measures the court has not not heard the casee about whether or not a genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza by Israel what happens is that when a court case is brought um it can take years for the international court of justice to make a ruling and so in order to make sure that that case remains relevant provisional measures might be sought we could think about this in in the way that if I accused you of stealing money from me a court might freeze your bank account while it decides whether or not you have actually stolen that money in order to make sure that the money doesn’t disappear in the meantime so the court has been asked to make provisional measures in order that um Israel will uh uphold the evidence make sure evidence isn’t tampered with preserve the evidence so that the court can use that in its determinations it’s also asked previously for Israel to make sure it provides humanitarian Aid and facilitates water and sanitation and Food and Health Care Services in the meantime to prevent needless deaths of civilians and other similar provision measures in previous rounds the court has been asked to rule on a ceasefire and it has refused to do so saying that Israel has the right of self-defense and that the court cannot order a ceasefire because that would go against Israel’s right of self-defense in this latest round the two provisional measures being asked for are again a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops and also to ensure unfettered access for humanitarian workers investigators and journalists now why do you think that this panel of Judges has stopped short of of ordering an end to the military offensive so far I mean that that’s something they could have already done well really the international court of justice is there to rule about international law if they were to order a ceasefire now they would be ruling that the military incursion the war in Gaza is unlawful goes against international law and they made it very clear in previous hearings that it was not their place they did not have sufficient evidence to rule that this war was not a war of self-defense really it’s for the UN Security Council to make that ruling and to order sanctions or embargos or no fly zones if it believes that Israel is acting Beyond its legitimate right of self-defense and so far we have seen the veto power being exercised at the security Council to prevent such action being taken we’ve seen the UN General Assembly passed many resolutions calling for a ceasefire but the general assembly does not have the enforcement powers to back up its non-binding resolutions so this case is being brought because once again many countries who are concerned about what’s going on in Gaza feel impotent because the Security Council is not taking action right I wanted to ask you more about that because the icj judges they have broad powers to make all kinds of orders but that doesn’t mean that anything will actually happen because they don’t have an enforcement apparatus for example a 2022 order by the court demanding that Russia stop the invasion of Ukraine has so far gone gone nowhere so what do you think how do you feel like the real impact or purpose of this case being heard before the court is well we’ve seen that Israel has not complied with some of the previous provisional measures specifically the one and it was raised by South Africa about preventing and Prosecuting members of its government that may be inciting racial hatred against the Palestinians and in particular there are two members benu and smri it has not complied with those provisions measures however it has provided a report to the court um which the court demands after setting out provisional measures showing how it is complying with things like humanitarian access and assistance the biggest deal with the court is that as you say there is no enforcement Powers you can’t put a state into prison you can’t send the bayts round to a country it’s not like National courts but it does carry very significant political weight if a country does not comply with provisional measures and as we’ve seen with Russia it is increasingly become a pariah State not only because of failing to comply with the Court’s measures but also because of its actions so there is a huge political push um that comes with any provisional measures that are being issued Professor Rosa Freedman from the University of reading thank you so much for joining and helping us understand this very complicated story I appreciate your time thank you

Israel lashed out Friday (May 17) at South Africa’s case before the UN’s top court, describing it as “totally divorced” from reality, as Pretoria urges judges to order a ceasefire in Gaza. A top lawyer for Israel painted the South Africa case as a “mockery” of the UN Genocide Convention it is accused of breaching. For more analysis, FRANCE 24’s Charli James is joined by Rosa Freedam, professor of law, conflict and global development at the University of Reading in England.
#Gaza #Israel #Hamas

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