Underscores

ICJ ruling underscores Israel’s growing isolation, experts say

From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling comes days after the International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate court in The Hague, sought arrest warrants for Hamas leaders as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.

The international pressure facing Israel today is “unprecedented,” Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank in London, told CNN. “Because this war is unprecedented, and the way Israel conducts the war is unprecedented.” 

While there has always been criticism of some of Israel’s actions, such as regarding the expansion of settlements, “this is on a different scale, a different universe altogether,” he said. 

“The current Israeli government does its best to make Israel a pariah state,” said Mekelberg.

The ICJ ruling will create “unprecedented legal pressure” on the Israeli state and its officials, Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, told CNN.

Action against Israel at international courts is placing Israel “under extreme isolation even among its allies, which might affect its ability to receive weapons, and might lead to other sanctions, " he said, adding: "It also leads to a strong feeling of isolation within Israeli society.”