The Hague, Netherlands

The International Court of Justice  (ICJ), top court of the United Nations on Friday (Jan 26) said that it is under its jurisdiction to rule over emergency measures as appealed by South Africa in the genocide case filed against Israel, in the wake of its ongoing war in Gaza.

It further said that Israel must punish people for committing genocide in Gaza and should immediately stop its attacks. The court further asked Israel to submit a report on the steps taken by the country to comply with its orders within one month.

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The court said that it would not abide by Israel's request to throw out the case. The top court further said that some rights which have been sought by South Africa in its case are plausible.

Also read: Explained: UN's top court to hand down ruling in Gaza 'genocide case' against Israel on Friday. What is it?

The ICJ added that it recognises Palestinians' right to be protected from acts of genocide in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. It added that under the genocide convention, Palestinians appear to be a protected group.

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The court ordered Israel to allow flow of more humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip. It ruled that Israel must take "immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians.”

Israel must prevent actions violating Genocide Convention: ICJ

In its ruling, the ICJ said that it has taken into account the Israeli defence minister's comments regarding 'human animals' in Gaza. The court ruled that some of the acts and omissions committed by Israel are under the Genocide Convention's provisions. ICJ said that no evidence of genocide in Gaza must be destroyed.

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The International Court of Justice has further ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide and any kind of actions which fall under the scope of the Genocide Convention.

A case was filed by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December, in which they had alleged that the devastating offensive against Hamas, in which 25,700 people were killed, amounted to state-led genocide and had breached the UN’s genocide convention, which was signed in 1948 in response to the Holocaust.

Watch: Israel-Hamas War: ICJ to rule genocide case against Israel

South Africa has appealed to the ICJ to impose nine orders on Israel which include immediate suspension of military activity and prove more access to humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza.

In the hearings, Israel has argued that a ceasefire will be unrealistic as the court can only give orders to one party since Hamas is not part of the court proceedings.

On the eve of the ruling, Hamas had stated that it would abide by the ceasefire order if Israel also agreed to do the same.

The ICJ's ruling over the genocide case became the most watched in the history of the court. 

(With inputs from agencies)