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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations Supreme Court is scheduled to rule Friday giving a preliminary ruling in a lawsuit asking Israel to halt military attacks on Gaza. Accuses Israel of committing genocide In a small enclave along the coast.
International Court of Justice President Joan E. Donoghue will read the long-awaited decision by a panel of 17 judges in a case that goes to the heart of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
But Friday’s ruling is only provisional.it may take years The complete lawsuit brought by South Africa need to be considered.Israel deny the accusation He asked the court to drop the charges.
As the case winds its way through the courts, South Africa asked judges to impose so-called interim measures of protection “as a matter of extreme urgency”. Palestinians in Gaza.
Top of South Africa’s list is asking the court to order Israel to “immediately cease military operations in and against Gaza.” It also calls on Israel to take “reasonable steps” to prevent genocide and enable access to desperately needed aid.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said in a statement on Thursday that the decision included “immediate action to stop the aggression and genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip, and prompt access to relief supplies to save the hungry, wounded and wounded.” I hope that it will include a similar trend.” Suffering from the slow threat of death that threatens them. ”
Israeli government spokesman Eilon Levy said Thursday that Israel expects the court to dismiss the “false charges.”
Israel often boycotts international tribunals and UN investigations, calling them unfair and biased. But this time, I took the unusual step of sending it. High-level legal team This is an indication of how seriously the country is taking this incident, and it may be a sign of concern that a court order to halt the operation could be a major blow to the country’s international standing.
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top legal, foreign and security officials on Thursday in anticipation of the verdict. He said Israel was confident in its claims but had discussed “all scenarios.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential meeting.
Israel launches massive air and ground offensive on Gaza in response to Hamas militants attacked an Israeli community On October 7, approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and another 250 were abducted.
The attacker is Vast areas of territory were destroyed and forced nearly 85% of its 2.3 million people from their homes.
over 26,000 Palestinians was killed, Ministry of Public Health The announcement was made Friday in the Hamas-run enclave. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death toll, but says about two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
The Israeli military claims Hamas militants are responsible for at least 9,000 people killed in the nearly four-month conflict.
United Nations officials have expressed concern that at least a quarter of the population has become ill and many more could die. facing hunger.
Marieke de Hoon, an associate professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam, said the legal hurdles South Africa would have to clear at this early stage are lower than the legal hurdles it would actually have to clear, which is why the court decided not to move forward with the case on Friday. He said he believed it was unlikely that the case would be rejected. He applied for a ruling on the merits of the charges.
“The standard is not… was there a genocide? But the standard is low,” she said. “Could there have been a risk of genocide for which Israel would be held responsible for preventing genocide?”
But Dehun also does not expect the World Court to order an end to Israeli military operations.
“They will avoid actually calling for a complete ceasefire, because I think it’s beyond their capabilities at this point,” he said in a phone interview.
The World Court’s interim measures are legally binding, but it is unclear whether Israel will comply with the order.
Meanwhile, top Hamas official Osama Hamdan said his group would abide by the ceasefire if ordered to do so and was ready to release hostages if Israel releases Palestinian prisoners.
The key will be how the United States, Israel’s biggest ally, responds to any order. The United States wields veto power in the U.N. Security Council and could block measures aimed at forcing Israel into compliance.
The United States said Israel has the right to defend itself, but also spoke of the need for the country to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip and allow further assistance.
The massacre shook the national identity of Israel, which was established as a Jewish state after the Nazis massacred six million Jews during World War II.
South Africa’s own identity This is the key to filing a lawsuit. Its ruling party, the African National Congress, controls Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank because of its country’s history under the white-dominated apartheid regime, which restricted most black people to their “homeland” until it ended in 1994. I have been comparing them for many years.
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Associated Press writers Joseph Federman in Jerusalem and Gerald Imlay in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage. https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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