In a powerful speech, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) sitting at Peace Palace heard about the risk of irreparable harm to Palestine.
The court is hearing oral observations in the case of SA versus Israel after South Africa launched a case last month at the ICJ against Israel for what it said were "genocidal" acts in Gaza.
Irish lawyer Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC spoke about the urgency of action and the risk of irreparable harm to Palestine.
“This has been described as a crisis of humanity. Famine is around the corner, and for children, the last 12 weeks have been particularly traumatic. Gaza has become inhabitable, and they are experiencing threats to their very existence,” said Ní Ghrálaigh.
Ní Ghrálaigh said that as the war continues, more people will be forced to relocate and more people will be martyred.
“Entire multi-generational families will be obliterated. The children will eventually be called a WCNSF — wounded child, no surviving family — the terrifying new acronym that came out of this.”
Ní Ghrálaigh lamented that the call for a humanitarian ceasefire has been ignored, and brought up several instances, including in The Gambia and Myanmar cases, where provincial measures were justified.
“Most recently, with Ukraine and Russia, the court found destruction of buildings and infrastructure, giving rise to irreparable harm. The court considered that many persons do not have access to essential needs and that many attempted to flee. This is appearing in Gaza on a much more extensive scale for a population that has nowhere safe to go."
Ní Ghrálaigh also gave shocking statistics, revealing that four out of five Palestinians are at risk of hunger in Gaza, and 245 Palestinian civilians are at risk of death per day.
“Israel continues to deny that it has started the crisis, even as Palestinians starve. Nowhere and nobody is safe. The international community continues to fail the Palestinian people. This is the first genocide in history, as the victims are broadcasting their own deaths and demise. This failure doesn't only have effects on the people of Gaza, but also on the future.”
In a powerful conclusion, she said, “The world should be absolutely horrified, and the world should be ashamed.”
Follow IOL's live coverage of the ICJ hearings here.
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