Middle East crisis live: South Africa and EU say they expect ‘full and immediate’ implementation of ICJ ruling | Israel-Gaza war

Bethan McKernan

The Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, a key chronicler of the war in Gaza, has been evacuated from the strip and found refuge in Qatar.

Azaiza, 24, who has 18.5 million Instagram followers, said in a video posted to the platform this week that he had been able to secure passage out of the blockaded coastal territory after documenting 108 days of the impact on civilians of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

“This is the last time you will see me with this heavy, stinky [press] vest,” the freelancer said in an emotional video explaining his decision on Tuesday.

I decided to evacuate today … Hopefully soon I’ll come back and help to build Gaza again.

The journalist travelled to Egypt’s El Arish airport, 30 miles from the Gaza border, and was flown to Doha on a Qatari military jet, a journey he said was his first by plane. He wrote on Facebook:

I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons … I left with a broken heart.

Azaiza’s photographs and English-language videos rocketed in popularity after Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October that killed 1,140 people and Israel’s subsequent declaration of war in Gaza.

He has documented the aftermath of airstrikes, including an attack in Deir al-Balah that killed 15 members of his family, as well as the daily struggle for survival searching for food, water and medicine.

He also captured moments of respite, such as meal times and football games, and his candid reflections on the war and its physical and mental toll resonated with his audience around the world. GQ Middle East featured Aziza as its 2023 “man of the year” in November.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said he expects Israel to abide by the international court of justice’s ruling that it take measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

South Africa has hailed a “decisive victory” for international rule of law after the ICJ ruled in favour of its request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its military operations in Gaza.

“Today, Israel stands before the international community, its crimes against the Palestinians laid bare,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation, adding:

We expect Israel as a self-proclaimed democracy and a state that respects the rule of law to abide by the measures handed down.

Ramaphosa and members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party erupted in cheers as the UN court judges read the order, after the ANC national executive committee suspended a meeting to watch the broadcast from the court.

The court “has vindicated us”, the South African president said, adding:

Some have told us we should mind our own business and not get involved in the affairs of other countries and yet it is very much our place as the people who know too well the pain of dispossession, discrimination, state sponsored violence.

Hamas has welcome the international court of justice’s ruling on South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war in Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group also called on the international community to require Israel to implement the court’s decisions and stop what it called the continuing “genocide” against Palestinians, Reuters reported.

The European Union has said it expects Israel and Hamas to fully comply with the rulings of the international court of justice.

A statement by the Commission reads:

We take note of today’s order of the international court of justice on South Africa’s request for the indication of provisional measures.

The EU reaffirms its continuing support to the international court of justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Orders of the international court of justice are binding on the parties and they must comply with them. The EU expects their full, immediate and effective implementation.

The right of each party to submit arguments in respect of jurisdiction, admissibility or the merits remains unaffected by the today’s decision on the South Africa’s request for the indication of provisional measures.

The US has temporarily paused funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) following allegations that several of its employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks in southern Israel.

As we reported earlier, UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said Israeli authorities had provided the agency with information about the alleged involvement of its employees in the 7 October attacks.

A statement from the US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller reads:

The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.

Meanwhile, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he was “extremely concerned” by the allegations and reiterated the “strongest condemnation” of the attacks by Hamas against Israel, adding:

We are in contact with UNRWA, expect it to provide full transparency on the allegations and to take immediate measures against staff involved. The commission will assess further steps and draw lessons based on the result of the full and comprehensive investigation.

It’s 5.12pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 4.12pm in The Hague. We’ll be handing over to the US shortly to continue our coverage of the Middle East crisis, but first, here are some of the latest developments:

• The ICJ on Friday ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide in its war in Gaza. In a sweeping ruling, a large majority of the 17-judge panel of the ICJ in The Hague voted for urgent measures which covered most of what South Africa asked for, with the notable exception of ordering a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza. South Africa had asked the court for an immediate ceasefire.

• Large opposing groups of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters gathered outside the ICJ in The Hague as the court’s interim ruling on South Africa’s allegation that the war in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians was livestreamed on screens.

• The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed orders by the ICJ on Friday and called it an “important reminder that no state is above the law”. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said in a televised speech on Friday: “The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favour of humanity and international law.”

• South Africa hailed what it called a “decisive victory” for the international rule of law on Friday, after the ICJ ruled in favour of its request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its military operations in Gaza.

• The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed a decision by the ICJ on Friday not to order a ceasefire in the war in Gaza but rejected a charge of genocide as “outrageous”, and said it would continue to defend itself. He said: “But the mere claim that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians is not only false, it’s outrageous, and the willingness of the court to even discuss this is a disgrace that will not be erased for generations.”

• Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, called for Israel to be forced to implement the ICJ’s decisions. He said the ICJ decision was an important development that contributes to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza.

• Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s security minister, responded to the ICJ ruling by tweeting: “Hague Shmague”. He was the first Israel official to comment after the court ended its reading.

• Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, called on Friday for Israeli authorities to face justice after the ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

• Spain’s Socialist-led government has welcomed the ICJ’s decision and called on all parties to respect and comply with the court’s ruling.

• Amnesty International called Friday’s interim ruling by the ICJ “extremely significant”. It stressed the need for the UK “to start taking the extremely grave issue of potential genocide against the Palestinian people seriously”.

• The UN Palestinian agency (UNRWA) said on Friday it would investigate the alleged involvement of several of its employees in the 7 October attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, and that it had severed ties with these staff members.

• The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 183 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 377 were injured in the past 24 hours.

• The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Meirav Eilon Shahar, accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of “collusion” with Hamas by ignoring Israeli evidence of the “terrorist use” of hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

• The British foreign secretary, David Cameron, said after a Middle East tour on Friday that progress had been made towards a deal to halt fighting in Gaza, bring in more aid and release Israeli hostages held there.

• The Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told his British counterpart, Cameron, during a meeting in Istanbul on Friday that an immediate ceasefire was needed in Gaza, Reuters reported, citing a Turkish diplomatic source.

• Snipers around the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, shot people as they tried to leave buildings, according to an Al Jazeera reporter. He said the hospital was under military siege.

• The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and his Israeli counterpart will meet Qatari officials in the coming days for talks on a second potential Gaza hostage deal and pause in fighting, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

• The Irish MEP Seán Kelly suggested on Friday that Netanyahu’s political motives had clouded his judgment on the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. Kelly called Netanyahu’s recent comments on the future of Gaza “extremely concerning” and accused the Israeli prime minister of being “driven by his own personal interest”.

• People were so desperate for food in Gaza that they were grinding up animal feed to use as flour, said the charity ActionAid. It warned that “famine is looming across the territory” and said hunger was reaching “catastrophic levels” in Gaza.

• The US and Iraq said they would begin discussions on the future of US and other foreign troops in the country.

• The British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Friday an explosion was seen approximately one nautical mile away from a Panama-flagged, India-affiliated crude and oil products tanker south-east of the Bab al-Mandab strait near Yemen, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

• The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday a vessel positioned approximately 60 nautical miles (nm) from Yemen’s city of Hodeidah reported an explosion heard and missiles sighted a few miles from its position.

• The Israeli national airline El Al said on Friday it would scrap direct flights to South Africa after “a significant fall in demand by Israeli travellers” to the country and other destinations.

• A drone attack on one of Iraq’s largest gas fields has led to a temporary suspension of production, resulting in major power cuts across the country’s northern Kurdistan region, officials said on Friday.

• The volume of commercial traffic passing through the Suez Canal has fallen by more than 40% in the last two months after attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to the UN.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed a decision by the ICJ on Friday not to order a ceasefire in the war in Gaza but rejected a charge of genocide as “outrageous”, and said it would continue to defend itself, reports the Associated Press (AP).

In a highly anticipated ruling, the ICJ ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but it stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Israel said it seeks to protect citizens in Gaza and also accuses Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields – an accusation that Hamas denies. Israel said it must have the right to defend itself after Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October that killed 1,200 people.

Responding to a case brought by South Africa at the ICJ in The Hague, Netanyahu said Israel’s commitment to international law was “unwavering”.

But he added in a statement: “Like every country, Israel has a basic right to defend itself … The ICJ in The Hague justly rejected the outrageous demand to deprive us of this right.” He appeared to be referring to the fact that the ICJ did not call for an immediate ceasefire in Hamas-run Gaza.

“But the mere claim that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians is not only false, it’s outrageous, and the willingness of the court to even discuss this is a disgrace that will not be erased for generations,” Netanyahu said.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister said Israel did not need to be lectured on morality. In the days after the 7 October attack by Hamas, Gallant had said Israel would impose a total blockade on Gaza as part of a battle against “human animals”.

“The ICJ in The Hague went above and beyond, when it granted South Africa’s antisemitic request to discuss the claim of genocide in Gaza, and now refuses to reject the petition outright,” he said in a statement.

Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister called on Friday for Israeli authorities to face justice after the ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, reports Reuters.

“Today, the authorities of the fake Israeli regime … must be brought to justice immediately for committing genocide and unprecedented war crimes against the Palestinians,” he said on X.

My colleague, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent Sam Jones has the reaction from Spain to Friday’s ICJ ruling:

Spain’s socialist-led government has welcomed the ICJ’s decision and called on all parties to respect and comply with the court’s ruling.

“Spain once again reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of the hostages, immediate and regular humanitarian access, and the need to move towards the implementation of the two-state solution,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been outspoken in his appraisal of Israel’s military operations. While repeatedly condemning the 7 october terrorist attacks, Sánchez has said he has “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza.

During a visit to the Middle East last November with Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, Sánchez said the number of dead Palestinians was “truly unbearable”, adding that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

The 29-page document detailing the decision by the ICJ has been published. You can find it here [pdf].

The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed orders by the ICJ on Friday and called it an “important reminder that no state is above the law”, reports Reuters.

Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said in a televised speech on Friday: “The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favor of humanity and international law.”

Maliki added that Palestine called on all states to ensure the measures ordered by the court are implemented “including by Israel, the occupying power”.

The UN Palestinian agency (UNRWA) said on Friday it will investigate the alleged involvement of several of its employees in the 7 October attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, and that it had severed ties with these staff members, reports Reuters.

“The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general.

“To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.”

Pjotr Sauer

Cheers erupted among pro-Palestine supporters who gathered outside the ICJ in The Hague when the court ruled that Israel must “take all measures within its power” to prevent all acts within the scope of the genocide convention.

But many voiced frustration that the top UN court had stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza.

“It is very good that the ICJ did not throw out the genocide case at Israel’s request but the courts orders to prevent genocide won’t be followed without a ceasefire. We can only hope now that humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza,” said protester Joris Doting.