South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, is flying to The Hague to be present on Friday when the international court of justice (ICJ) delivers its highly anticipated verdict on South Africa’s request for an interim ruling in its genocide case against Israel.
The ruling, if granted, would probably take the form of an order to Israel to announce a ceasefire in Gaza and allow more UN humanitarian aid into the country.
. . .
A judgment on the merits of the South African claim that Israel is committing genocide under the 1948 Geneva convention is many years off, but the ICJ, the UN’s highest court, has powers to issue the equivalent of an interim injunction.
This episode of the New York Times’ The Daily goes over the various nuances of the international law, the obligations and responsibilities of various nations / states / actors, etc. And it doesn’t matter if Israel agrees with it or not, they are absolutely subject to the obligation to protect civilians.