Awad Rjoub
27 January 2024•Update: 27 January 2024
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the decision Friday by a UN court “confirms the end of Israel's impunity era.”
His comments came in a statement received by Anadolu in response to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision, which ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
“The decision means the end of Israel's impunity era, and it imposes on countries that support Israel to stop supporting and assisting it,” he said. “We had hoped that the court's decision would include an immediate ceasefire, given the severe suffering of our people in the strip, with daily massacres claiming the lives of hundreds, mostly children and women, in addition to the spread of famine and epidemics among those besieged in shelters.”
Shtayyeh said the response to the complaint filed by South Africa carries a “high degree of importance,” as it puts Israel “in the dock as a war criminal, the first time it stands in this capacity before the International Court of Justice.”
He expressed his country's gratitude to South Africa “for its presentation of court files and professional arguments condemning Israel for its crimes against the Palestinian people.”
Shtayyeh also expressed hope that “the court will continue its deliberations until the final decision is issued, condemning Israel for its acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, unprecedented since World War II.”
The prime minister held Israel “fully responsible for the exacerbation of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions experienced by our people in the region.”
He called for “pressure to be exerted on Israel to compel it to stop its aggression and facilitate the urgent flow of humanitarian aid and relief supplies to the region.”
The ICJ ordered Israel on Friday to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv said killed 1,200 people.
At least 26,083 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 64,487 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala
