*Electronic Science – Agencies*
Osama Hamdan, a leader in Hamas, revealed on Thursday, January 25, that the movement will abide by any ceasefire decision issued by the International Court of Justice.
Hamdan confirmed in a press conference that, “If a ceasefire is issued by the court in The Hague, the Hamas movement will adhere to it as long as the enemy adheres to it.”
Hamdan said that Hamas will release the Israeli prisoners it holds if Tel Aviv releases the Palestinian prisoners it holds.
The leader of the movement stressed that Israel must end its 18-year siege of Gaza and enter all necessary aid for population relief and reconstruction.
Osama Hamdan called on “all countries, governments, and human rights and humanitarian bodies in the world to continue filing lawsuits in the International Criminal Court against the Israeli occupation and its political and military leaders to criminalize their aggressive actions and bring them to trial as war criminals.”
He also called for intensifying the filing of criminal complaints against Israeli officials in all the countries and capitals they visit in order to pursue Israel’s leaders and expose and criminalize Tel Aviv’s actions before the world.
For reference, the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body affiliated with the United Nations, announced on Thursday that it would issue a historic decision on Friday in the case against Israel.
The decision to be issued on Friday will only decide on South Africa’s request for emergency measures and not on the basic issue of whether Israel committed genocide, an issue that will take years to decide.
A decision by the International Court of Justice against Israel would increase political pressure on it, and observers expect that it could serve as an excuse to impose sanctions on it.
The court will likely order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, which it launched following Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, 2023.
Orders issued by the International Court of Justice that decide disputes between states are legally binding and cannot be appealed, but the court does not have broad authority to enforce its rulings.
The 1948 Genocide Convention does not only define genocide as the killing of members of a particular ethnic or national group, according to Ganina Dale, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, who stressed in an interview with the newspaper that “everything depends on intent,” so Both South Africa and Israel focus “not only on what the commanders and soldiers did, but also on what some of them said.”