International Court of Justice asks Israel for information on conditions in Gaza

(Patria) - A two-day hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ended today with the court requesting Israel to provide information on the existing humanitarian conditions in certain evacuation zones in the Gaza Strip.

The second day of the hearing was held in The Hague, and Israel's defense responded to South Africa's urgent request for additional provisional measures against Israel.

Israeli representative Gilad Noam said the notification of the hearing came as a great surprise, adding that although Israel requested the hearing be postponed until next week, this was denied.

Claiming that Israel has worked diligently to ensure the protection of civilians, Noam said that Israel has the right and obligation to defend its citizens.

Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, the principal deputy legal advisor in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claims that Israel has not closed the two main crossings in southern Gaza, the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings.

"This is an obvious untruth," said Tourgeman, asserting that Israel allows and facilitates the provision of greater humanitarian aid.

She asked the court to reject South Africa's request for provisional measures.

While she was speaking, someone in the courtroom shouted "liar," causing the hearing to be briefly interrupted.

Before closing the hearing, the ICJ posed a question to the Israeli delegation regarding the humanitarian situation in the evacuation zones of the besieged enclave.

"Can Israel provide information on the existing humanitarian conditions in certain evacuation zones, particularly in al-Mawasi, and how it would ensure safe passage to these zones, as well as the provision of shelter, food, water, and other humanitarian aid to all evacuees who are and can be expected to arrive in these zones?" read Judge Georg Nolte.

South Africa on Thursday requested an order from the ICJ to end the Israeli offensive on Gaza as part of additional provisional measures against Israel.

The South African delegation pointed to Israel's deliberate violation of the court's binding orders. The delegation said they were forced to return to the court due to "the continued destruction of the Palestinian people."

South Africa last Friday filed an urgent request with the ICJ for additional measures amid Israeli attacks on Gaza, particularly in the city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

"The situation brought about by the Israeli attack on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services in Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza, is not merely an escalation of the situation, but leads to new facts that cause irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza," stated South Africa's request.

At the end of 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The United Nations (UN) court, in an interim ruling in January, found South Africa's claims to be plausible. It ordered provisional measures for the Israeli government to refrain from genocidal acts and to take measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

However, Israel has not complied with any of these decisions.