Despite ICJ order, Israel continues genocidal campaign against Palestinians

Barely two weeks into the International Court of Justice's order ruling Israel to prevent further acts of genocide against Palestinians, Tel Aviv appears to have stepped up its brutal military campaign in Gaza and other occupied territories – killing thousands of civilians in clear violation of the directive.

Data compiled by TRT World from published news reports and testimonies of rights activists suggest escalated violence by Israel despite mounting global pressure to end the war.

The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the January 26 ICJ order is estimated to be at least 1,277, while the number of injured is at least 2,485, according to a tally by TRT World spanning January 26 to February 5.

“The situation has worsened on the ground, and the rate of Israeli violations has increased since the ICJ decision. Hunger today is more widespread,” Ubai Aboudi, the executive director of the rights organisation Bisan Center for Research and Development (BCRD), tells TRT World.

“Besides the killings of Palestinians, the scarcity of essential supplies, exemplified by the last food truck entering on January 27, exacerbates the plight of Palestinians.”

Since October 7, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 27,000 people, most of them women and children and turned much of the enclave into a dystopian wasteland.

This tally does not include other instances of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says that over 100,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured or missing over the past four months during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

Video clips on social media and news reports after the ICJ order underscore that the horror continues.

A mass grave containing 30 handcuffed, blindfolded, and executed people was discovered in a school in northern Gaza.

On February 5, UNRWA posted an image on social media showing a damaged food convoy waiting to travel towards northern Gaza.

UNRWA reported that Israeli naval gunfire struck the convoy, directly violating the ICJ's explicit order for Israel to ensure the delivery of basic services and humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to flood tunnels across Gaza with seawater as part of its offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

Experts warn that this strategy could contaminate underground water sources, potentially rendering Gaza uninhabitable for up to a century.

In a video clip, an Israeli far-right activist is seen telling an aid truck driver, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, that “I am the owner here, you are a slave here”.

Earlier this week, a US federal court upheld the ICJ's order that Israel could potentially be engaging in genocide and cautioned the Biden administration to reassess its backing of Israel's military campaign.

Israeli officials have said they are assessing the necessary measures ahead of a potential military assault in Rafah City, located in southern Gaza.

“Despite designated safe zones, Israeli bombing persists in the south of Wadi Gaza, while preparations for an invasion of Rafah, where many displaced Palestinians reside, pose imminent risks to their lives,” Aboudi says.

The UN says “everything possible” must be done to avoid an Israeli attack on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, which it says could lead to a “large scale” loss of life.

“We can warn what might unfold with the ground invasion, and we can make clear what the law says,” the UN humanitarian office has warned.

“Under international humanitarian law, indiscriminate bombing of densely populated areas may amount to war crimes,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at a briefing in Geneva.

About 1.4 million people are sheltering in Rafah after being ordered there by Israeli forces, which previously described the area as a “safe zone”.

“Thousands of people are sleeping on the streets and in tent camps flooded with sewage,” the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy said in a report sent to TRT World.

Shortly after the ICJ decision, the White House halted its funding to UNRWA following Israeli accusations that 12 of its staff were implicated in the October 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the total suspended funds amounted to over US$440M, constituting half of the agency's expected funds for 2024.

Israeli attacks near Nasser and Al Amal hospitals in Khan Younis have also intensified in the past two weeks, placing the safety of medical personnel, the injured, and the sick, as well as thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking refuge at both hospitals, at risk.

On February 6, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Israeli forces had intensified their siege of Nasser Hospital, putting the lives of 300 medical personnel, 450 wounded individuals, and approximately 10,000 displaced people seeking shelter in the hospital compound in danger.

There is a critical shortage of surgical supplies and sutures, and it is estimated that only enough fuel remains to power hospital generators for approximately four more days.

“The ICJ ruling did not stop the fighting, only political and economic pressure from states can halt the aggression, emphasising the imperative for countries to uphold international law,” Aboudi says.

“We hope that in the ICJ review, they will have more provisional measures, including a ceasefire.”