Shame on world for allowing Gaza genocide

It is hard to think of any moment when a major international institution has taken a decision of genuine import to challenge Israeli impunity. The UN Security Council has done so on occasions, but typically a US veto, or even just the threat of one, prevents this.

However, a year ago on Sunday, Jan. 26, the International Court of Justice decided to order legally binding provisional measures against Israel to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the possibility of genocide.

Such a grim anniversary merited great respect from those who cherish human rights. Yet no major leader commented. There were no laments about the failure to prevent genocide. The media generally ignored it, despite this being one of the most seminal judgments the court has ever made.

The case as presented by South Africa, involving just over six hours of forensic legal analysis and evidence, was powerful. It was still a jaw-dropping moment when the judges issued their historic verdict. Was Israel, for once, going to be held to account?

The decision of the 15 judges acknowledged there was a genuine risk that the rights of the Palestinian population in Gaza not to be exterminated could have been breached. For some, it was even controversial that the court determined that the Palestinians are a people with rights.

The South African submission demonstrated the intent of the Israeli leadership to destroy the Palestinian people “in whole or in part.” Intent is the key factor in determining genocide, not any success in destroying large numbers of a specific group.

That was a year ago and the Israeli actions since have not softened, but rather got harsher. If there were any doubts about it being genocide last January, they have long since dissipated for many. The three months in northern Gaza before the recent ceasefire deal were the worst period of the entire genocide. Can anyone deny that the Israeli leadership’s intent was not geared toward “causing serious mental and bodily harm” to the Palestinians there?

The International Court of Justice is the world’s highest judicial body. Provisional measures are its trigger warning to the world to act. Nobody has done so, even after the court added further provisional measures in March and May. Instead, the arms have kept flowing. The countries that are supplying Israel with weapons are complicit in what it is doing.

Yet other states have joined South Africa, including European countries such as Ireland and Spain. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two of the world’s largest human rights groups, have determined Israel has committed genocide. Holocaust and genocide scholars have warned of this as well.

If there were any doubts about it being genocide last January, they have long since dissipated for many

Chris Doyle

One provisional measure was that all parties should prevent and punish incitement to genocide. As yet, however, not one of the Israeli leaders, from the president downward, have been punished for their genocidal comments. Following warnings from their lawyers, some have calmed their language, if not their actions. But not all. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last week said that Gaza is “an animalistic society that sanctifies death.” It is a rare thing to find a senior American or European politician who has demanded that the incitement stops and that those who have made such statements be punished.

A key charge against Israel was that it was using starvation as a weapon of war. The court ordered Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” in Gaza. Israeli leaders and anti-Palestinian groups have spent months spreading the lie that it was the UN and Hamas that was holding up aid, despite the evidence to the contrary.

From October 2023, Israel deliberately restricted the entry of lifesaving aid into Gaza. This is not conjecture. It was stated policy. Compare the number of trucks getting into Gaza prior to the Jan. 15 deal with the days following. In the first six days after the deal, Israel allowed in 4,200 trucks, an average of 700 a day. In October last year, the average daily number was just 57. Israel turned off the tap and was able to turn it back on at will. The aid was waiting at the border.

In addition, Israel’s deliberate denial of power meant Gaza’s healthcare, water and sanitation systems could not function.

Some argue that the focus should now all be on implementing the Israel-Hamas deal. This is naive. Firstly, if Israel knew it had to take an International Court of Justice ruling seriously, then it would have changed its approach to Gaza a year ago. Secondly, this deal is, at best, a pause in the hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not committed to ending military activity in Gaza and, in the meantime, has mounted a further invasion of the West Bank.

This was a historic ruling. The failure of powerful actors to take it seriously should shame them all. Even if you do not believe that Israel’s actions do constitute genocide, it is impossible to deny that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed. By ignoring the International Court of Justice, these powers have not just facilitated this genocide but also other genocides to come.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech