UN Security Council set to meet after ICJ’s ruling on war crimes of Israel in Gaza

In the coming week, the United Nations Security Council is set to convene to address the recent decision from the organization’s highest court. The ruling calls upon Israel to implement measures aimed at preventing genocidal actions in Gaza. This announcement was conveyed by the Security Council presidency on Friday.

The Wednesday meeting was called for by Algeria, whose ministry of foreign affairs said it would give “binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the provisional measures imposed on the Israeli occupation.”

The ICJ on Friday said Israel must prevent genocidal acts in its war with Hamas and allow aid into Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an end to the fighting.

The decision “gives the clear message that in order to do all the things that they are asking for, you need a cease-fire for it to happen,” Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour said.

“So fasten your seat belts,” he said, hinting that the Arab Group, represented on the council by Algeria, would push for one.

The Security Council, long divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, has only managed to reach consensus on two resolutions since Israel’s disproportionate attack on Palestine, which ensued after Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault, triggering the latest round of conflict.

In December, it demanded aid deliveries “at scale” to Gaza’s besieged population, while Israel’s ally, the U.S., has kept out calls for a cease-fire despite international pressure.

The ICJ, based in The Hague, while refraining from ordering an immediate halt to the almost four-month-old war, said Israel must do everything to “prevent the commission of all acts within the scope” of the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention.