UN court's ruling 'much-needed light in darkness,' says UK-based lawyers’ group

An interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip is a "much-needed light in the darkness," a UK-based lawyers' group on Palestinian rights said Friday.

"It is a historic day for clearly recognising the fundamental human rights of Palestinians, including their fundamental right to life, and an important vindication of the vital resort to law to uphold fundamental rights," Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) said in a statement.

Noting that the order is legally binding on Israel and automatically sent to the UN Security Council, it said all governments and UN bodies should take tangible action to ensure that Israel complies.

"Whilst this historic legal case takes its course, we strongly re-emphasise that it remains deeply imperative that all diplomatic measures be urgently exercised to deliver an immediate ceasefire," it said.

LPHR added that the order is "crucially important" but will not, on its own, end the extreme human suffering and acute struggle for survival.

The ICJ ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, where it has killed more than 26,000 victims since an Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas.

South Africa, which brought the case, had asked the court for provisional measures against Israel.

Israel has since launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 26,083 Palestinians and injuring 64,487 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while more than half of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.