Jess Bravin
WSJ, Jan. 26, 2024
“Hamas, which the U.S. and European Union classify as a terrorist organization, said the ICJ decision “opens the door to holding the enemy’s leaders accountable for these crimes before the International Criminal Court and reaffirms the rights of our Palestinian people to self-determination, the establishment of their independent state, and the return to their forcibly evacuated lands and homes, in line with relevant international resolutions.””
The International Court of Justice declined a plea to order Israel to cease military operations in Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks but required the Jewish state to enable humanitarian aid to the enclave’s civilian population and take every measure to prevent the destruction of its Palestinian community.
Friday’s decision, adopted by an overwhelming majority of the United Nations court, was a nuanced response to a blood-soaked conflict that began with Hamas’s massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel, triggering an Israeli military campaign that Gaza officials say has claimed more than 25,000 lives.
“The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” the ICJ’s American president, Joan Donoghue, said in announcing the ruling from the Peace Palace in The Hague.
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