States supporting Israeli military operations are complicit in policy of destruction in Gaza

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate” which could bring about “the physical destruction” of the Palestinians. What does this ruling change in concrete terms on the ground?

For Palestinians who are being bombed and are trapped in the fighting, the ICJ’s ruling does not radically change their daily lives. The measures ordered by the Court are legally binding, but it has no means of enforcing them. On 26 January, the ICJ issued provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent and punish acts of genocide and ensure that basic services and aid reach people in the Gaza Strip. The Court’s rulings, both in terms of the pressure they exert on Israel and the media coverage they generate, highlight the systematic and manifest nature of the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including attacks on hospitals — which we have documented in recent months — as well as schools, mosques, universities, roads, farmland, and more. These are being deliberately and methodically destroyed. The entire social fabric of Gaza is being annihilated.

Hospitals in the north of Gaza continue to be targeted in attacks and have undergone massive destruction, as is the case for Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. There is no longer a fully operational hospital in Rafah since the Kuwaiti hospital was taken out of service following an airstrike that killed two of its staff. Since the beginning of the war, the health system — hospitals, ambulances, medical personnel, and patients — has been the target of deliberate and systematic attacks by the Israeli military. Currently, Israel refuses to take in patients, particularly children, who cannot be treated in Gaza, and medical evacuation to Egypt has not been possible since Israel took control of the border.

There is vital and urgent need to force Israel to immediately cease its policy of destruction of all sources of life in Gaza. The United States, which systematically opposes UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire, is complicit in this policy of destruction and fuelling it, as do the United Kingdom and European states allied with Israel. These countries must stop supporting Israel’s military operations in order to protect civilian lives and prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people.