By General Monzer El Ayoubi*
Translation: Dr Pierre A. Sarkis
Suspension of hostilities; preventing genocide, refraining from killing, injuring or destroying life and preventing births; abstaining from displacement and deprivation; disallowing incitement and punishing acts that encourage or call for genocide while ensuring the preservation of evidence; submitting continuous reports to the Court on the measures taken while not allowing anything that aggravates the situation. All the above is included in the lawsuit supported by documents, filed by the State of South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, under the title of preventing and punishing the crime of genocide against the Palestinian People in the Gaza Strip. This is based on the 1948 agreement signed by 152 countries, including Israel, taking into consideration that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood cannot justify the massacres committed by the Israeli army in Gaza.
Driven by historical background based on indelible suffering and a great legacy accumulated in rejection and resistance to racial discrimination, as reflected in the crimes of genocide committed against its people, the State of South Africa did what the Arab and Islamic countries concerned first and foremost with the Palestinian issue, had failed to do. Regardless of the course of legal and judicial procedures based on the United Nations Charter and the rules of jurisdiction, the decision issued by the ICJ after two hearing sessions by the legal teams of South Africa and Israel, constituted a moral and humanitarian victory for the Palestinian People and their just cause. It also demonstrated the seriousness in applying international justice through the rapid issuance of the decision without delay or procrastination. At the same time, it crystallized flawless satisfaction based on the conviction of the judges, jointly, without any discussion or appeal, as shown by what was reported or presented from evidence collected over a span of 13 weeks, sufficient to prove and confirm a pattern of actions, intentions and incitement that justifies the reasonable allegations of the commission of genocide by the enemy Israeli Army. In context, the ICJ ordered Israel to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as the report stated that “Israel must take immediate and effective measures to allow the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance that the Palestinians urgently need to confront the unsuitable living conditions.”
Therefore, the decision has not and will not be a cry in the valley, as it has sparked clear concern and imposed a meeting of the UN Security Council for Wednesday, 31 January, 2024, to consider the decision of the ICJ, which called on Israel to prevent any possible act of genocide in Gaza, as the French Presidency announced. It was noted that the meeting was scheduled at the request of the Algerian Government where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune directed his country’s permanent mission to the UN, to request that a session in the UN Security Council be held in order to give “mandatory force” to the ruling issued. Accordingly, the decisions of the ICJ which settles disputes between countries, is concluded and legally binding but does not have any direct means to implement its rulings, so the matter and the hope rests on the UN Security Council to whom it submits its reports.
In parallel, the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the resolution after its issuance as a “decisive victory for international law and a step on the one thousand miles road in search for justice for the Palestinians.” On the other hand, there is no bet on the Israeli enemy’s commitment to the ICJ’s decisions, in addition to the resolutions that will be issued by the UN Security Council, as long as they do not include resorting to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter’s Articles 39 and 51, listed under the title (concerning actions to be taken in cases of a violation and a threat to peace and the occurrence of aggression).
As for the reactions, the countries supporting the usurper entity, led by the United States of America, will face whether politically or militarily, a semi-coercion mixed with embarrassment to abandon and stop the military, logistical and financial supplies to the enemy government. On the other hand, it is not possible to ignore Benjamin Netanyahu’s habitual steps of washing away his sins and crimes, in an attempt to escape forward. He is certain that he has burned all the penalty cards and the red flag raised by the ICJ meaning a punishment without appeal, as the investigation committee that will be formed after the Gaza war and a difficult day of reckoning, is awaiting him and his army commanders.
In the midst of the ongoing war against the Palestinian People and the proposals put forward by the intelligence trio, William Burns of the CIA, David Barnea of the Mossad, Major General Abbas Kamel of Egyptian Intelligence, with the participation of Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammed Abdel Rahman, for the purpose of ripening the prisoner exchange deal that will open a loophole in the blocked wall due to Netanyahu’s intransigence. Logistical movements were recorded by The Israeli Army Staff Command which mobilized three armored military divisions the 319, and the 36, which includes the Golani Brigade and the 91 Galilee Division equivalent to 100,000 soldiers along the frontier with Lebanon. This coincided with the signing by Major General Eyal Harel, head of the Planning Department in the Israeli Army, of an exceptional arms deal in size and quality which will be implemented immediately. Its most important part will include the delivery of a squadron of twenty-five F35 aircrafts and a squadron of twenty-five F15 AI aircrafts, which raises the serious and high possibility for launching an open war against Hezbollah and Lebanon.
In conclusion, and if we exclude the curse of the eighth decade and the prophesies of Israel’s demise, then the obsession of fear among its people and settlers will remain omnipresent for generations and they will pay the price for Netanyahu’s and his generals’ madness and treachery. As for the State of South Africa, it will remain the destination of the free. After his release from prison to become head of state, Nelson Mandela said, “we know very well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians… as is the case with our struggle, they are defending their right to self-determination.” There is no harsher punishment than time, but hesitation and procrastination in implementing it multiplies the size of the crime and encourages the villains to overreach and persist in savagery. This requires that the UN takes into consideration the decision of the ICJ and quickly stop the genocide against the Palestinian People.
Tripoli, 29/01/2024
*Scholar/Researcher in Security and Strategic Affairs
