Gazans look for ‘international justice’ as Israel’s war continues on 100th day

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – As Israel’s bloody war on the Gaza Strip now reached 100 days, killing nearly 24,000 people, Palestinians are now looking to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop Tel Aviv's brutal onslaught and punish it for genocidal crimes.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave, laying much of the narrow coastal enclave to waste in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The deadly onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

As the international community stood idle to the Israeli assault, South Africa filed a lawsuit with the ICJ accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Israel rejected South Africa’s genocide accusations, arguing that its offensive in the Gaza Strip was in “self-defense.”

If the world court issues an order to halt the Israeli offensive and Tel Aviv doesn’t comply, it could face UN sanctions.

- Mass destruction

The Israeli offensive has damaged 69,300 housing units and damaged 290,000 others, according to Gaza’s government media office.

Figures released by the media office showed that 121 ambulances were struck and 30 hospitals, 150 health care institutions and 53 health care centers were forced out of service by the Israeli attacks.

The office said 95 schools were also destroyed, 295 damaged, 145 mosques demolished and 243 others partially damaged by the Israeli onslaught.

Churches were not spared from the Israeli bombing either. The government office said that three churches in Gaza were severely damaged, while 200 archaeological sites were destroyed.

The ongoing Israeli attacks have forced tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes.

“Around one million people have arrived in Rafah city in southern Gaza since the outbreak of the Israeli war,” municipal chief Ahmed al-Soufi said.

“Municipal authorities are no longer able to control all basic services in the city, particularly waste collection amid the high number of refugees,” he added.

Similar situations were reported in cities in the central and northern Gaza Strip amid severe fuel shortages, causing the outbreak of diseases among residents and displaced people, especially children.

Lack of clean water makes displaced people and residents unable to maintain the hygiene necessary to prevent diseases amid warnings of famine in the Palestinian territory.

Last week, UNICEF warned that over 1.1 million children are threatened by the intensifying conflict, malnutrition and diseases in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s health sector also suffers from a scarcity of medicines and medical supplies amid Israel’s blockade on the enclave.

Since Oct. 7, Israel has shut all crossings with Gaza, while the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian territory and Egypt has been partially opened for the entry of limited aid.

Up to 200 trucks have been able to enter Gaza each day, according to the White House. That is a fraction of the roughly 500 shipments that entered daily prior to the start of the war when needs were far less acute.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi