What does the latest ICJ judgement mean for Gaza war?

Some unprecedented but important developments concerning Israel’s war on Gaza have occurred this week.

After Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of International Criminal Court (ICC), declared on Monday that he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday decided to comply with South Africa’s demand for “provisional measures”, ordering Tel Aviv to stop its attacks in Gaza.

“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Both ICC and ICJ, the two international courts, are dealing with human rights violations, but have different functions. The ICC was established in 2001 thanks to the Rome Statute, an international treaty, which created it while the ICJ was formed in 1945 under the UN, being a direct organ of the biggest international organisation.

“The International Court of Justice’s order underlines the gravity of the situation facing Palestinians in Gaza, who have for months endured the blocking of basic services and humanitarian aid amid continued fighting,” says Balkees Jarrah, Human Rights Watch’s associate director for international justice.

“Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and civilians there are facing famine – and yet the Israeli government continues to flout the World Court’s binding orders by obstructing the entry of lifesaving aid and services,” Jarrah tells TRT World.

More than seven months into the Gaza war, nearly 40,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children were killed by Israel’s ceaseless attacks as more than a million people have been displaced due to Tel Aviv’s forceful actions.

Prior to the ICJ, ICC’s Khan accused Israel of “causing extermination” of Palestinian population by deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza.

“The ICJ’s decision opens up the possibility for relief, but only if governments use their leverage, including through arms embargoes and targeted sanctions, to press Israel to urgently enforce the court’s measures,” says Jarrah.

Growing Israeli isolation

While the US, a staunch ally of Israel, disfavoured the court’s arrest warrants as some American senators threatened both the international judicial organ and its leaders like Khan alongside his family for different measures, other Western states have declared their intention to comply and implement its decision on Netanyahu and Gallant.

On Wednesday, Germany, a party to the ICC convention of the Rome Statute and an ally of Israel, said that Berlin will arrest Netanyahu if the court orders his arrest. Norway also said that it is “obligated” to arrest Netanyahu if the ICC agrees with Khan on the prime minister’s arrest warrant.

France and Belgium have also already declared that they will support the ICC’s final decision.

Today’s historic decision of the ICJ against Israel’s Gaza invasion on top of all these recent developments will further increase Tel Aviv’s isolation in the international community, according to experts.

“No one is above the law,” declared ICC’s Khan, whose ancestors were born in today’s Pakistan territory, referring to Israel during a landmark interview with CNN saying that Tel Aviv’s Gaza war conduct carries signs of a “criminal common plan”.