Egypt calls on Israel to implement ICJ measures regarding Gaza

Egypt called on Israel on Friday to implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the Gaza Strip, stressing that it had hoped the ICJ would demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response to the measures announced by the ICJ for Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians.

According to the statement: “Egypt welcomes the International Court of Justice ruling on South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

Cairo also welcomed the court’s request to implement a number of immediate temporary measures aimed at providing protection for the Palestinians, the most important of which is that Israel stops committing crimes of killing Palestinians and ensures the immediate provision of urgent humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt said that it was looking forward to a ruling of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza by the court, as it ruled in similar cases, as the request for a ceasefire is considered a main guarantee for the implementation of the necessary and provisional measures to protect Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

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It also stressed the need to respect and implement the ICJ’s decisions as the United Nations’ principal judicial body.

Cairo also called on Israel to: “Immediately implement all the measures ruled by the ICJ, which represents the beginning of the path to enforcing the rules of international law and international humanitarian law regarding the protection to the Palestinian people, and putting an end to the attacks and violations practised against them.”

On Friday, the ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide against the Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, but the decision did not include a ceasefire.

On 11 and 12 January, the ICJ in The Hague held two public hearings as part of the start of deliberations regarding the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of committing crimes amounting to genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Friday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki welcomed the temporary measures ordered by the Court regarding Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, calling for their implementation.

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