Israel must answer for its crimes in Gaza

The military, humanitarian, and legal aspects of Israel's war on Gaza have come into sharper focus after reports emerged that Israeli strikes continued to intensify despite its pledge to scale down its operations as well as hearings on genocide charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which began on Thursday. The case, brought by South Africa claiming Israel had violated the 1948 Genocide Convention, also calls on the court to order it to stop military operations in Gaza. With the world's focus firmly on hearings, that Israeli would still continue its offensive shows its defiance and disdain for international laws and humanitarian concerns.

Since the war began, Israeli forces have killed at least 23,357 Palestinians in Gaza as part of its campaign to eradicate Hamas. They have also laid much of Gaza to waste, while nearly all its 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes at least once. Innocent civilians continue to die and suffer as access to humanitarian aid is proving to be as difficult as ever. Reportedly, the World Health Organization has again cancelled a planned medical aid mission to Gaza due to security concerns—the sixth such cancellation in two weeks—while four Red Crescent staffers were killed when an Israeli strike hit their ambulance.

Against this background, far from creating room for hope and humanitarian aid, Israel seems to be focusing on creating the optics of addressing concerns even though the ground reality betrays its motive. For example, its continued offensive contrasts its pledge earlier this week that it would pull out some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign, which did not happen. And then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly, but unreliably, rebuffed calls by some right-wing ministers to permanently occupy the enclave. The fact is, the world should continue to be cautious about Israel, regardless of the outcome of ICJ hearings.

Experts say the ICJ could rule quickly on South Africa's request for suspension of Israeli military campaign, but a final ruling on genocide could take years. However, there is "a low bar" for the court to issue an injunction against Israel, as an expert said, and even if it does, Israel may ignore it, as Russia did, since ICJ rulings are not enforceable. But whatever happens at the court, there is no denying Israel's crimes, and it must answer for them. The international community must force Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire.