By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its order on South Africa’s latest request for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday.
A public sitting is set for 3 pm at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Nawaf Salam, President of the Court, will read the Court’s Order.
South Africa last week delivered its arguments before the ICJ in a fresh application as part of its genocide case against Israel.
Pretoria argued that Israel’s latest military’s full-scale assault on the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge, is the last step in the destruction of all Gaza’ and that the court must order Israel to halt its military activity in Gaza and to withdraw its forces entirely.
The rulings of the ICJ, which rules on disputes between states, are binding but it has no power to enforce them — it has ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail, for example.
But a ruling against Israel would increase the international legal pressure after the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor said Monday he was seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders.
Israel, like Russia, is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC and does not recognize the court’s authority.
At least 35,709 people have been killed and 79,990 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack is 1,139, with dozens still held captive.