ActionAid calls on nations to seize this moment, adhere to the ruling, and take urgent action to ensure the unequivocal implementation of these crucial measures and demand justice. Israel must be held accountable for its violations in Gaza.
We welcome the Court’s ruling affirming prima facie jurisdiction and indicating provisional measures, including the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to and the protection of the Palestinian civilian population. These measures – which include taking all measures to prevent acts of genocide, such as the killing of and causing of serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians – are potent steps toward rectifying the unparalleled catastrophic situation in Gaza where more than 26,000 people have been killed, at least two thirds being women and children, and UN human rights experts report that all children under five – 335,000 – are at high risk of severe malnutrition as the risk of famine conditions increase by the day. We celebrate South Africa’s petition, and the 88 countries from the Global South who supported it and see it as a bold display of moral courage borne out of its lived experience of colonization and the horrors of apartheid.
It is clear that an immediate and permanent ceasefire is the only way to end this suffering and the world must unite to address the broader, urgent issues at hand and end this intolerable loss of civilian life.
ENDS
For media requests, please email Jenna.Farineau@actionaid.org or call 202-731-9593.
Spokespeople are available:
- Niranjali Amerasinghe, Executive Director of ActionAid USA
- Riham Jafari, Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication for ActionAid Palestine
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.