UN Security Council to discuss ICJ ruling on Gaza war

Palestinian ambassador to UN hints at push for ceasefire

Palestinians arrive in the southern Gaza town of Rafah after fleeing an Israeli ground and air offensive in the nearby city of Khan Younis on January 26, 2024. AP Photo

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The UN Security Council will meet next week following the decision by the global body's highest court calling on Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, the council's presidency said.

The meeting on Wednesday was called for by Algeria, whose Foreign Ministry said it would give “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,” Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said.

“So fasten your seat belts,” he said, hinting that the Arab Group, represented on the council by Algeria, would push for one.

The UN Security Council, long divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, has only agreed to two resolutions since the October 7 Hamas attacks sparked the latest round of fighting.

In December, it demanded aid deliveries “at scale” to Gaza's besieged population, while Israel's ally the US has opposed calls for a ceasefire despite international pressure.

The fighting started with the attack by Hamas that resulted in about 1,200 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to figures released by the Prime Minister's Office.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages and Israel claims that about 132 of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead.

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas and launched a military offensive that the Health Ministry in Gaza said has killed more than 26,083 people, about 70 per cent 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.