Palestinian Authority, Hamas hail ICJ’s ruling on Gaza

“We call on all states to ensure that all provisional measures ordered by the Court are implemented, including by Israel, the occupying power,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki stated, stressing that the world court’s decision, issued earlier on Friday, constituted a “binding legal obligation.”

“States now have clear legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza and to make sure that they are not complicit,” he continued.

Al-Maliki added that the international court’s decision is “an important reminder that no state is above the law.

“It should serve as a wake-up call for Israel and actors who enabled its entrenched impunity.”

He voiced Palestine’s “eternal gratitude to the people and government of South Africa for taking this bold step of active solidarity,” adding that Palestinian authorities would “continue to work closely with South Africa and other countries to ensure that justice is served”.

In an interim decision in the genocide case filed by South Africa in The Hague, the ICJ ordered Israel earlier on Friday to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 26,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 64,500 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also said the decision “confirms the end of Israel’s impunity era”.

“The decision means the end of Israel’s impunity era, and it imposes on countries that support Israel to stop supporting and assisting it,” he stated.

“We had hoped that the court’s decision would include an immediate ceasefire, given the severe suffering of our people in the strip, with daily massacres claiming the lives of hundreds, mostly children and women, in addition to the spread of famine and epidemics among those besieged in shelters.”

Shtayyeh added the response to the complaint filed by South Africa carries a “high degree of importance”, as it puts Israel “in the dock as a war criminal, the first time it stands in this capacity before the International Court of Justice.”

He voiced his country’s gratitude to South Africa “for its presentation of court files and professional arguments condemning Israel for its crimes against the Palestinian people”.

Shtayyeh also expressed hope that “the court will continue its deliberations until the final decision is issued, condemning Israel for its acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, unprecedented since World War II.”

The prime minister held Israel “fully responsible for the exacerbation of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions experienced by our people in the region”.

He called for “pressure to be exerted on Israel to compel it to stop its aggression and facilitate the urgent flow of humanitarian aid and relief supplies to the region”.

Palestinian Hamas group has also welcomed the ICJ provisional order on the Israeli onslaught on the blockaded enclave.

In a statement, the Hamas group said the order issued by the top UN court means “the halt of all forms of [Israeli] aggression on our Palestinian people in Gaza.”

It urged the international community to compel Israel to implement the ICJ ruling and halt its ongoing “genocide crime” against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The group added it looks forward to the final ruling on the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel.