Pictures of the week: UN court orders Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The court, by a large majority of the 17 judges, ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts, to ensure that its military does not commit genocide, to halt incitement against Palestinians as a group, to preserve evidence and to take immediate measures to ensure humanitarian aid.

In addition, the court asked Israel to report on the measures regarding the orders within one month. The orders are, according to the court, legally binding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the ICJ's decision not to order a ceasefire, but rejected the claim of genocide as "outrageous" and said Israel would continue to defend itself.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed on Tuesday that a lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only come through a two-state solution.

"Last week's clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable," he told a high-level open debate of the Security Council on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Netanyahu last Sunday rejected a proposal of a ceasefire deal reportedly being advanced by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, while the Israeli army continued to pound the Palestinian enclave.

Citing Egyptian officials, a report by the Wall Street Journal said the mediators have proposed a 90-day plan for the ceasefire. In the first phase, the fighting will stop, and Hamas will release all Israeli civilian hostages, while Israel releases Palestinian prisoners and increases aid. The plan also includes the rebuilding of Gaza and talks for a permanent ceasefire and the relaunch of a process to establish a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu rejected the key elements of the plan, including the prospect of establishing a Palestinian state. "I will not compromise on full Israeli security control of all territory west of the Jordan River," he said in a video address to the nation, referring to the West Bank, a territory Israel captured along with the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel and Hamas broadly agree in principle that an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners could take place during a month-long ceasefire, but the framework plan is being held up by the two sides' differences over how to bring a permanent end to the Gaza conflict, according to Reuters on Wednesday, citing three anonymous sources.

Hamas has since refused to move forward with the plans until the future conditions of a permanent ceasefire are agreed, the Reuters report added.

The Israeli fire on Thursday struck a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at Kuwait Square, a major intersection in Gaza City, killing at least 20, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli strike also injured 150 others, who were among the thousands waiting for humanitarian aid at Kuwait Square.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 26,083 since October 7, 2023, the ministry said on Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that its troops have surrounded the main southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis after its 24 soldiers were killed in Gaza in the worst single-day toll on Monday.

According to official Israeli figures, a total of 219 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, 2023.

A United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) training center in Gaza's major southern city of Khan Younis was attacked and set on fire on Wednesday, killing at least nine people, a UNRWA official said.

Thomas White, UNRWA's operations director in Gaza, wrote in a post on social media platform X that two tank rounds hit the building that shelters 800 people, killing at least nine people and wounding 75 others.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon Imran Riza on Friday called for a de-escalation of tensions in southern Lebanon as the repercussions on civilians are heavy amid limited aid by international organizations.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 230 on the Lebanese side, including 164 Hezbollah members and 39 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) underlined the "hellish" conditions in Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and a "true solution" to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Thursday.

The WHO head also warned of growing risks of epidemics, starvation and famine in Gaza since the health service there is "on its knees."

(With input from agencies)