Brazil urges Israel to 'fully comply' with measures ordered by top UN court

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Brazil on Monday denounced the ongoing attacks on Gaza and called on Israel to fully comply with emergency measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month.

“Brazil believes it's its duty, but also that of this council to firmly oppose any form of racism, sexism, antisemitism or Islamophobia,” Brazil's Human Rights and Citizenship Minister Silvio Almeida told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Reiterating that Brazil has condemned the attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 and demanded the "immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages," he noted that they reject the "flagrant disproportionality" of the Israeli government's use of force which has claimed nearly 30,000 lives in Gaza.

"Most of them women and children, (Israel) forcibly displaced more than 80% of Gaza's population and left thousands of civilians without access to electricity, drinking water, food and basic humanitarian assistance," added Almeida.

"The creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state that coexists with the state of Israel is an essential condition for peace," he noted, adding that Brazil considers it to be the duty of the council to "honor the self-determination of peoples" and to search for a peaceful solution to conflicts and to oppose all forms of new colonialism and apartheid.

Referring to the genocide case at the International Court of Justice, brought by South Africa last month, Almeida called on Israel to "fully comply with the emergency measures ordered by the court to stop the serious violation of humanitarian rights."

“We affirm that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory is illegal, and violates international standards," he added.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 30,000 people and injured over 70,000 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.