Report of the International Court of Justice (1 August 2024–31 July 2025) – (A/80/4)

01 August 2025

(Excerpt on the situation in Palestine)

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Chapter V

Judicial activity of the Court

11. Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)

183. On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
184. The acts and omissions by Israel of which South Africa complained included killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. According to the applicant, those acts and omissions were “genocidal in character, as they [were] committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”. Accordingly, South Africa alleged that the conduct of Israel in relation to Palestinians in Gaza was in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention. South Africa contended that “Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, ha[d] failed to prevent genocide and ha[d] failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide”, and that “Israel ha[d] engaged in, [was] engaging in and risk[ed] further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
185. South Africa sought to found the Court’s jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on article IX of the Genocide Convention, to which both South Africa and Israel are Parties.
186. The application was accompanied by a request for the indication of provisional measures in order to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention” and “to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide”.
187. Public hearings on the request of South Africa were held on 11 and 12 January 2024.
188. The Court ruled on the request by an order dated 26 January 2024, in which it indicated provisional measures directing Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of article II of the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in Gaza; to ensure with immediate effect that its military did not commit any such acts; to take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip; to 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 in the Gaza Strip; to take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of article II and article III of the Genocide Convention; and to submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to the order within one month as from the date thereof.
189. On 23 January 2024, Nicaragua, referring to Article 62 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry an application for permission to intervene “as a party” in the case.
190. By a letter dated 12 February 2024, South Africa, referring to “the developing circumstances in Rafah”, called upon the Court urgently to exercise its power under article 75, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court.
191. On 16 February 2024, the Court, having duly considered the letter of South Africa and the observations of Israel thereon received on 15 February 2024, decided that the recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, did not demand the indication of additional provisional measures. The Court noted, however, that the situation called for the immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated in its order of 26 January 2024, which were applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah. The Court further emphasized that “the State of Israel remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order, including by ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”. The Court’s decision was communicated to the parties by letters from the Registrar.
192. On 6 March 2024, South Africa requested the Court “to indicate further provisional measures and/or to modify its provisional measures indicated on 26 January 2024”, with reference to Article 41 of the Statute and to articles 75, paragraphs 1 and 3, and 76, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court. On 15 March 2024, Israel furnished its written observations on that request.
193. The Court ruled on the request of South Africa by an order dated 28 March 2024, in which it reaffirmed the provisional measures indicated in its order of 26 January 2024 and indicated additional measures directing Israel to “[t]ake all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza, including by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary”.
194. In its order, the Court also directed Israel to “[e]nsure with immediate effect that its military [did] not commit acts which constitute[d] a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group under the [Genocide Convention], including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance”. In addition, Israel was ordered to submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to the order within one month as from the date thereof.
195. By an order dated 5 April 2024, the Court fixed 28 October 2024 and 28 July 2025 as the respective time limits for the filing of the memorial of South Africa and the counter-memorial of Israel.
196. On 5 April and 10 May 2024 respectively, Colombia and Libya, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed declarations of intervention in the case.
197. On 10 May 2024, South Africa submitted to the Court an “urgent request for the modification and indication of provisional measures” pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and articles 75 and 76 of the Rules of Court. On 16 and 17 May 2024, the Court held public hearings on that request.
198. The Court ruled on the request by an order of 24 May 2024, in which it reaffirmed the provisional measures indicated in its orders of 26 January 2024 and 28 March 2024 and indicated additional measures. In particular, it directed Israel “in conformity with its obligations under the [Genocide Convention], and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in the Rafah Governorate”, to “[i]mmediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. Israel was also directed to “[m]aintain open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” and to “[t]ake effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide”. Lastly, Israel was ordered to submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to the order, within one month as from the date thereof.
199. On 24 May 2024, Mexico, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed a declaration of intervention in the case.
200. On 31 May 2024, pursuant to Security Council resolution 9 (1946) (adopted by the Council by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by Article 35, paragraph 2, of the Statute), the State of Palestine filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration accepting “with immediate effect the competence of the International Court of Justice for the settlement of all disputes that may arise or that have already arisen covered by Article IX of the [Genocide Convention], to which the State of Palestine acceded on 2 April 2014”. On the same day, the State of Palestine filed an application for permission to intervene in the proceedings under Article 62 of the Statute of the Court and a declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute.
201. On 28 June 2024, Spain, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed a declaration of intervention in the case.
202. During the period under review, Türkiye (on 7 August 2024), Chile (on 12 September 2024), Maldives (on 1 October 2024), the Plurinational State of Bolivia (on 8 October 2024), Ireland (on 6 January 2025) and Cuba (on 10 January 2025) filed declarations of intervention in the proceedings under Article 63 of the Statute. On 30 January 2025, Belize, referring to Articles 62 and 63 of the Statute, filed in the Registry of the Court a document containing an application for permission to intervene and a declaration of intervention in the case.
203. On 1 April 2025, Nicaragua informed the Court that it had decided to withdraw the application for permission to intervene that it had submitted under Article 62 of the Statute of the Court on 23 January 2024.
204. By an order dated 14 April 2025, the Court extended to 12 January 2026 the time limit for the filing of the counter-memorial of Israel.

12. Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Nicaragua v. Germany)

205. On 1 March 2024, Nicaragua filed an application instituting proceedings against Germany for alleged violations by Germany of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, as well as “intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law” in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the Gaza Strip.
206. In its application, Nicaragua stated that “[e]ach and every Contracting Party to the Genocide Convention has a duty under the Convention to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide” and that, since October 2023, there had been “a recognised risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, directed first of all against the population of the Gaza Strip”.
207. Nicaragua further argued that, by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and by defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, “Germany [was] facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case ha[d] failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide”.
208. Nicaragua sought to found the Court’s jurisdiction on the declarations by which both States had accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to Article 36, paragraph 2, of its Statute and on the compromissory clause contained in article IX of the Genocide Convention.
209. The application was accompanied by a request for the indication of provisional measures, in which Nicaragua asked the Court to indicate provisional measures as a matter of extreme urgency, pending the Court’s determination on the merits of the case, with respect to the “participation [of Germany] in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law occurring in the Gaza Strip”.
210. Public hearings on the request were held on 8 and 9 April 2024.
211. The Court ruled on the request by an order dated 30 April 2024, finding that the circumstances, as they then presented themselves to the Court, were not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures.
212. By an order dated 19 July 2024, the Court fixed 21 July 2025 and 21 July 2026 as the respective time limits for the filing of the memorial of Nicaragua and the counter-memorial of Germany. The memorial was filed within the time limit thus fixed.

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