UNSC to discuss ICJ ruling in Israel genocide case

Al Jazeera :
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is to meet next week over the decision by the global body’s top court calling for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.

The meeting scheduled for Wednesday was called by Algeria, whose Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would give a “binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice on the provisional measures imposed on the Israeli occupation”.

The ICJ on Friday said Israel must prevent genocidal acts in its war with Hamas and allow aid into Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an end to the fighting.

The decision “gives the clear message that in order to do all the things that they are asking for, you need a ceasefire for it to happen”, said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN.

Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, requested the meeting late on Friday after a closed-door discussion of the UN’s 22-member Arab group. As many as 174 killed in Gaza after ICJ ruling.

“So fasten your seat belts,” Mansour said, hinting that the Arab group would push for a halt in the fighting.

Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the UN in New York, said diplomatic sources indicated that the proposal by Algeria is likely to call for an immediate truce.

“All eyes now turn to the Security Council,” he said, adding that the country’s move is highly anticipated.

The UNSC, long divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, has only agreed to two resolutions since the October 7 Hamas attacks that led to Israel’s massive offensive on the Gaza Strip.

In December, it demanded aid deliveries “at scale” to Gaza’s besieged population, while Israel’s ally, the United States, has kept out calls for a ceasefire despite international pressure.

Hamas’s October 7 attacks killed about 1,140 people in Israel, according to authorities.
Palestinian fighters also seized about 250 people and Israel says 132 of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 of them.

Israel has promised to crush Hamas and launched a military offensive that the Ministry of Health in Gaza says has killed at least 26,257 people, about 70 percent of them women and children.

The ICJ, based in The Hague, while refraining from ordering an immediate halt to the almost four-month-old war, said Israel must do everything to “prevent the commission of all acts within the scope” of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the ICJ ruling and said his country will continue to defend itself and its citizens while adhering to international law.

Meanwhile Al Jazeera reports, top Palestinian officials and Hamas have criticised the decision by some Western countries to suspend funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians and called for an immediate reversal of the move that entails “great” risk.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) earlier said it had opened an investigation into some employees that Israel alleges were involved in the October 7 attacks that triggered the current conflict.

On Saturday, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh said the countries’ decision “entails great political and humanitarian relief risks”.

“At this particular time and in light of the continuing aggression against the Palestinian people, we need the maximum support for this international organization and not stopping support and assistance to it,” he wrote on X, urging the countries to “immediately reverse their decision”.

Italy, Australia, Canada and the United States said they would halt funding to the agency, while European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the 27-member bloc would “assess further steps and draw lessons based on the result of the full and comprehensive investigation”.

Hamas on Saturday slammed Israeli “threats” against the agency, after Israel accused several UNRWA staff of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attacks in southern Israel that the authorities there say killed about 1,140 people.

“We ask the UN and the international organisations to not cave in to the threats and blackmail” from Israel, Hamas’s press office said in a post on Telegram.

On Friday, UNRWA said it had fired several employees and that it had opened an investigation into the allegations.

“The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on October 7,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

“To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.”

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that his country was joining its allies and cutting its support for the agency.

“Allied countries have taken a similar decision. We are committed to providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population while protecting Israel’s security,” he posted on X.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “deeply concerned” by the allegations against UNRWA.

“We are speaking with partners and will temporarily pause disbursement of recent funding,” she wrote on X. “We welcome UNRWA’s immediate response, including terminating contracts and launching an investigation, as well as its recent announcement of a full investigation into allegations against the organization,” she added.

Israel praised the countries for halting their support to the UN agency, saying it wants to completely stop its operations after the war on Gaza has ended.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel “aims to promoting a policy ensuring that UNRWA will not be a part of the day after, addressing other contributing factors”.

“We will work to garner bipartisan support in the US, the European Union, and other nations globally for this policy aimed at halting UNRWA’s activities in Gaza,” he said.

Canada’s International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen on Friday announced that Ottawa had “temporarily paused any additional funding to UNRWA while it undertakes a thorough investigation into these allegations”.