What is the International Court of Justice?
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is located in The Hague, Netherlands. It was created in 1945 to help settle disagreements between countries. The ICJ, also called the World Court, is part of the United Nations (UN). It also gives advisory opinions on various legal issues presented to it.
The court can solve issues between UN member countries, promoting world peace and safety. Any UN country can bring a case against another, even if they're not in a direct fight. For example, South Africa recently brought a case against Israel.
What is South Africa’s case against Israel?
The ICJ has been urged to investigate whether Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa thinks Israel is harming Palestinians after the Hamas attack.
Many reports say that since Israel started fighting against Hamas, many people in Gaza have died. South Africa wants the ICJ to act quickly to stop more bad things from happening in Gaza and also wants the war to be stopped.
What is Israel’s reaction to this?
Israel has criticised South Africa for filing the case and has defended itself in court. Israel's military says it takes several precautions to avoid hurting civilians.
They drop warning posters to tell civilians to leave, and they stop attacks if there are regular people around. Israel also mentions it only has problems with Hamas, not the regular people in Palestine.
So, can the court stop Israel’s attack on Gaza?
Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICJ can't punish individuals for serious crimes like genocide. But the UN and other groups listen to what it says.
The court has heard what both countries had to say during a public hearing held last week. Its decision will be announced at a later date.
Also, the ICJ can't make countries do what it says. Israel might not do what the court decides, just like Russia ignored the court’s order in 2022 to stop military operations in Ukraine. Let's wait and see what the court decides and what happens next.
