‘Hague schmague’: Minister dismisses world court after it says Israel must take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza
An international court has demanded that Israel should do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza – but stopped short of ordering an end to its offensive.
The ruling by judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) comes at an early stage in South Africa’s case alleging that Israel’s military action in its war with Hamas in Gaza is genocidal.
South Africa welcomed the measures describing the ruling as a “decisive victory for the international rule of law”; while Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted on X saying: “Hague schmague”.
The court ruled it has jurisdiction to hear arguments and it therefore denied Israel’s request that it throws out the case.
It ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide and report back to the court within one month.
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What exactly is genocide – and how do you define it?
South Africa filed the case, arguing Israel is breaching the UN convention on genocide by “killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”.
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Israel will be relieved that the ruling does not take a position on South Africa’s central claim that it is committing genocide in Gaza.
Instead, it says it must do everything it can to avoid its forces doing so.
But it is under huge pressure now over the humanitarian situation in Gaza which the court is clearly deeply concerned about and describes as verging on catastrophic.
The judges were clearly vexed by the allegedly genocidal statements made by senior Israeli officials which South Africa claims showed an intent to commit genocide.
Again, the ruling dodges taking a position on that claim but it does order Israel to prevent and punish all genocidal statements.
Israel has avoided the worst outcome with this ruling, but its reputation hardly emerges unscathed in a ruling handed down by the UN’s highest court.
While the 17 judges consider the genocide allegations – which may take years to rule on – South Africa asked the court “as a matter of extreme urgency” to issue an interim order compelling Israel to suspend military operations to protect Palestinians in Gaza while the case proceeds slowly through the court.
“The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” Joan Donoghue, the court’s president, said.
In the ruling, 15 of the 17 judges on the panel voted for emergency measures which covered most of what South Africa asked for, with the notable exception of a halt to military action in Gaza.
Judges in The Hague
Protesters gather outside the International Court of Justice. Pic: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Palestinians have welcomed the provisional measures ordered by the court, with foreign minister Riyad al Maliki saying: “The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favour of humanity and international law.”
Mr Maliki added that the Palestinian authority called on all states to ensure the measures ordered by the court are implemented “including by Israel, the occupying power”.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said: “The International Court of Justice ruling is an important development that contributes to isolating the occupation and exposing its crimes in Gaza.
“We call for compelling the occupation to implement the court’s decisions.”
Benjamin Netanyahu @IsraeliPM
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the case as “outrageous” and vowed to continue the military action.
“We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country and defend our people,” he said.
“Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself.
“The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.”
South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor Pic: AP
The country’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in response to the ruling posted on X saying: “Hague schmague”.
South Africa welcomed the ruling, and said it “will continue to do everything within its power to preserve the existence of the Palestinian people as a group, to end all acts of apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people and to walk with them towards the realisation of their collective right to self-determination, for, as Nelson Mandela momentously declared, ‘our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians’.”
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ICJ President Judge Joan Donoghue says Israel must take measures to prevent the killing of Palestinians.
Speaking at outside the court, South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation Naledi Pador said: “We believe the moment is now right to open negotiations for a two-state solution to end this conflict decisively.”
She added that she believed in order to implement the order Israel would have to instigate a ceasefire.
“How do you provide aid and water without a ceasefire? If you read the order, by implication a ceasefire must happen,” she said.
The ICJ’s rulings are final and without appeal, but it has no way of enforcing them.
World
Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
In the nation of ‘Cade Mile Failte’ (a hundred thousand welcomes), the residents of Coolock want to shut the door.
They’ve set up an anti-immigrant camp in the north Dublin suburb, outside a disused factory earmarked to house asylum seekers.
With green, white and orange, they’re staking claim to this ground, their protest tents bedecked with dozens of Irish flags.
Car horns blast every four or five seconds, in response to a large poster reading: “Beep if you support Coolock.”
Their other roadside banners state: “Community concern over 1,000 male migrants being housed in this building” and “Irish lives matter”.
The camp is occupied 24 hours a day, with young men guarding it overnight and residents of all ages during the day.
Two elderly women, two younger women and half a dozen men of various ages were on site when we arrived.
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The camp was marked with a number of Irish flags
Sean Crowe, who describes himself as “a concerned parent”, said: “Coolock’s message is we don’t want them here, we just don’t want them, end of story.
“We have our own gangs and trouble going on that we can’t sort out. The place is bad enough as it is.”
“It’s just going to put more of a strain,” the father-of-one added.
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Asked how he would reply to those who describe protesters as “racist”, he replied: “It’s not about racism.
“It’s about the strain it’s going to put on the community and local amenities around the place.
“That’s all it’s about, concerned parents.”
The camp at Coolock is just one of several that have sprung up across the Republic in the past year.
In several places, like Newtownkennedy in County Wicklow, the tension has reached breaking point, with public order police officers deployed.
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“We fear they’re going to do the same thing here,” said one protestor at Coolock, who wished to remain anonymous.
“If the Gardai [Irish police] attempt to shut down our peaceful protest, all hell will break loose here,” she added.
With the sun shining and the smell of meat cooking on their barbecue, it had a community feel about it.
But they’re fiercely critical of their current government and you can sense that the tension isn’t far beneath the surface.
“Eighty percent of them are crossing the border from Northern Ireland and they knew that would happen,” Sean told me.
“It’s time to close the border” are not words you expect to hear, when Ireland fought hard to keep it open.
World
Family protests outside suspected serial killer’s lair as they wait for news of teenager who went missing 12 years ago
The family of a missing high school student who may have been the first victim of a suspected serial killer in Mexico City have protested at the site where bones were found last week.
The bones were discovered with the belongings of at least six women, police said, and Amairany Roblero’s relatives have been told that evidence was found relating to her 2012 disappearance.
Ms Roblero was 18 when she vanished and, as is often the case in Mexico, her family was left to investigate her disappearance with little help from prosecutors.
Family friend Alejandra Jimenez said: “The prosecutors had the case file but they didn’t ever give any results to her parents.”
Instead, her parents printed flyers and gave them out near her school – the last place she was seen – but they had “nothing, nowhere to start, nor any directions to the end”, Ms Jimenez added.
Friends and family holds images of women who have gone missing. Pic: AP
A suspect, identified only by his first name, Miguel, was detained by neighbours and police last week after he is alleged to have killed a seventh young woman.
He is accused of waiting for a woman to leave her apartment and then rushing inside to sexually abuse and strangle her 17-year-old daughter.
The woman returned to the apartment to see the suspect leaving and she was slashed across her neck before he ran off.
She survived but her daughter died.
Investigators searched a room rented by the suspect and found bones, mobile phones and ID cards belonging to several women in the same block, thought to be mementos.
Miguel is awaiting trial on charges of murder and attempted murder relating to the most recent victims.
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City prosecutor Ulises Lara insisted the suspect was difficult to catch because “he showed no signs of violent or aggressive behaviour in his daily life”.
Ms Roblero’s family and friends were not accepting this, however.
“They (authorities) have all the means to look for missing people,” Ms Jimenez said. “Instead of focusing on their political campaigns, they should help all the women who are looking for their children.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, a lawyer representing the family of another victim, was also frustrated, asking why no investigation had never been launched in that case, despite missing person reports being filed in 2015.
Ms Jimenez said Ms Roblero’s family had not been told which of the items or remains in the apartment had been linked to her, adding: “This is wearing her parents down physically, mentally.”
Some 2,580 women were murdered in Mexico in 2023, according to the country’s National Public Security System but poorly funded and badly trained prosecutors have failed to stop serial killers over the years.
In 2021 a serial killer in Mexico City killed 19 people but their bodies were only found, buried at his house, after the wife of a police commander became one of the victims.
In 2018 another serial killer in Mexico City murdered at least 10 women and was only stopped after he was seen pushing a dismembered body down the street in a pram.
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