The war in Gaza has been one of the main conflicts recently, causing major political tension, and a huge humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel has faced a lot of criticism from other Countries, mainly in Africa and the Middle East. Israel has also been supported by many countries, specifically the US and its allies. The war was started when the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel and took hostages. Israel had a fierce response by cutting off water and power, and by sending air strikes throughout the Gaza strip. They claim that they are doing it to try and attack Gaza, but it has caused many civilian casualties and suffering. The death toll in Gaza has just now reached 26,000, with many more injured. Because of the lack of water and power, Gaza is not fit to take care of these people and has had to receive outside resources from countries in the form of supply trucks. Israel has been asked to stop its attack and to try and solve the problem in a way that won’t kill innocent civilians. Israel has not stopped though,, and continues to send strikes and cut resources. Israeli civilians have even started stopping supply trucks claiming that Gaza should not get any extra aid until Hamas is eliminated and the Israeli hostages are found. The situation is very tense because of Israel’s insistence to not listen to other countries, and attack Gaza. However, South Africa has taken the case that what Israel is doing is not right the the top court in the UN, the ICJ. They claim that Israel is committing war crimes in the form of genocide against the people of Gaza, meaning they are trying to eliminate the Palestinian people. They directly claimed that “ Acts and omissions by Israel are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.” This is referring to the air strikes sent to Palestine and the civilian casualties that they have caused. They have also used statements from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as evidence that Israel intends to commit genocide. Israel has claimed that they are not guilty of genocide and that Hamas was the one who wanted to commit genocide. He said that they were trying to avoid civilian casualties by saying they send airdrops and call people’s phones to warn them an airstrike is coming. The United Kingdom prime minister Rishi Sunak stated that South Africa’s case was “unjustified and wrong.” Despite the criticism, South Africa has continued to state their case and the ICJ has ruled in their favor. While not directly stopping the Israeli attack, the ICJ has put measures to make sure Israel is not committing war crimes. They have ordered Israel to not kill any Palestinian people and to offer basic aid to them. Israel has to file a report within a month to show that they have made an effort to prevent genocide, and if they can’t show it, the ICJ would have the power to order a ceasefire and prevent Israel from attacking Gaza. This should help in reducing civilian casualties during the war, but only time will tell if it is truly effective.
