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Former ICJ President Says World Court Did Not Rule Genocide Claim Against Israel Is ‘Plausible’
A pro-Hamas demonstration outside the Israeli consulate in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Reuters/Nic Bothma
The former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) clarified on Thursday that the court did not rule it was “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Joan Donoghue, who was president of the ICJ when the preliminary ruling was made, was asked on the BBC if the key point in the January ruling was that it was plausible Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians.
“It did not decide, and this is something where I’m correcting something that’s often said in the media,” she responded. “It did not decide that the claim of genocide was plausible.”
Rather, she explained, the court ruled on two things pertaining to the question of genocide. First, “the Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide,” and second, that “South Africa had a right to present that in the court.”
In other words, they were answering procedural questions rather than substantive ones.
Joan O’Donoghue, President of Int’l Court of Justice when it made its Provisional Measures Order in SA’s case v. Israel alleging genocide, has confirmed it did not decide that SA’s claim of genocide was plausible: pic.twitter.com/MCNDw0yloS
— UK Lawyers For Israel (@UKLFI) April 25, 2024
Donoghue’s correction may have been necessary because, after the preliminary ruling, many observers began claiming the ICJ found Israel was “plausibly” committing genocide. An NPR article in late January, for example, was titled “A top UN court says Gaza genocide is ‘plausible’ but does not order cease-fire.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN’a special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, claimed the ICJ “just recognized that the horror in Gaza plausibly constitutes genocide.”
The statement from Donoghue appeared to stand in stark contrast to what was claimed.
Still, others have said her new statement did not actually debunk that interpretation. Kenneth Roth, former executive director at Human Rights Watch, wrote on X/Twitter that Donoghue said “everyone has a right to be protected from genocide” and that “the court found it plausible that Palestinians’ right was in jeopardy.” Therefore, he argued, “that means it’s plausible that Israel is committing genocide.”
However, Donoghue’s statement was relatively clear. She added at the end: “The shorthand that often appears — that there’s a plausible case of genocide — isn’t what the court decided.”
Seemingly responding to that claim, Roth argued that, either way, “Donoghue isn’t on the court anymore, so her revisionist reinterpretation of the Gaza judgment doesn’t matter.”
Prior to the preliminary decision being handed down, 210 members of the US House of Representatives signed a letter arguing, “South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel exposes how far Israel’s enemies will go in their attempts to demonize the Jewish state.”
“While barely acknowledging the Hamas terrorists who gleefully massacred, mutilated, raped, and kidnapped innocent civilians on Oct. 7, South Africa makes grossly unfounded and defamatory charges against Israel on the world stage, abusing the judicial process in order to delegitimize the democratic State of Israel,” the letter argued.
Many Jews, including those in South Africa, welcomed the ICJ ruling because it did not impose a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza — which would have been an unprecedented step — and, more importantly, called for the release of the hundreds of hostages taken by the Hamas terrorist organization during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“The court’s call for the hostages to be freed is a fundamental requirement for the end of the conflict,” the South African Jewish Board of Deputies said at the time. “It is regrettable that the South African government did not put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages from the outset, which would have averted such terrible loss of life.”
In December, South Africa hosted two Hamas officials who attended a government-sponsored conference in solidarity with the Palestinians. One of the officials had been sanctioned by the US government for his role with the terrorist organization.
The post Former ICJ President Says World Court Did Not Rule Genocide Claim Against Israel Is ‘Plausible’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.