Saudi Arabia welcomes World Court ruling on Israel over war in Gaza

Saudi Arabia on Friday welcomed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war in the Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Kingdom affirmed “its categorical rejection of the Israeli occupation’s practices and violations of the United Nations Convention on genocide,” it added.

The World Court ordered Israel on Friday to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire as requested by South Africa.

While the ruling denied Palestinian hopes of a binding order to halt the war in Gaza, it also represented a legal setback for Israel, which had hoped to throw out a case brought under the genocide convention established in the ashes of the Holocaust.

The court found that Palestinians were protected under the convention, and that there was a case to be heard about whether their rights were being denied in a war that the court said was causing grievous humanitarian harm. It also called for Palestinian armed groups to release hostages captured in the October 7 attacks that precipitated the conflict.

Palestinian officials largely hailed the decision. The Palestinian foreign ministry said it was a welcome reminder “no state is above the law.”