UK INGOs call for UK to accept and respect International Court of Justice ruling on Israel and Gaza
On Friday 24 May, UK INGOs released a statement in reaction to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling ordering additional provisional measures regarding Israel’s alleged violations in Gaza of obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The court ordered that, in light of the worsening conditions in Rafah, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may subject the Palestinian population in Gaza to conditions of life that may lead to their physical destruction, in whole or in part. The court described the conditions in Rafah as ‘disastrous’ and is ‘not convinced that the evacuation efforts and related measures that Israel affirms to have undertaken to enhance the security of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and in particular those recently displaced from the Rafah Governorate, are sufficient to alleviate the immense risk to which the Palestinian population is exposed as a result of the military offensive in Rafah.’
The statement signed by Bond, Action for Humanity, ActionAid UK, CAFOD, Oxfam GB and many more, calls for the “UK to unreservedly accept the findings and orders of the Court” and “respect the Court’s decisions.”
The INGOs also call for “the UK to do everything in its power to ensure that Israel complies with its obligations under international law, including in respect of all of the measures ordered by the ICJ.”
The statement states that “The ICJ is the highest court of the United Nations. His Majesty’s Government must publicly and unreservedly acknowledge the findings of the ICJ and support implementation of the measures it has ordered. Failure to do so will risk the UK falling short of its own ethical and treaty obligations to prevent the crime of genocide, and its own stated policy to prevent all mass atrocity crimes.”
Notes for editors
- Read a joint statement from over 30 NGOs calling on the UK government to work urgently to prevent any further assault on Rafah.
- Read Bond’s latest blog questioning whether ‘aid washing’ is holding back peacebuilding and development in Gaza.
- Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 350 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.
- For further information or interviews, please get in touch with Jess Salter at [email protected] or call 07493200979.
