Just a day following the court's decision, the council's presidency disclosed the scheduling of a meeting for Wednesday.
Algeria initiated the Wednesday meeting, with its ministry of foreign affairs emphasizing that it aims to confer a "binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice on the provisional measures imposed on the Israeli occupation."
In its recent decision, the ICJ, in a 15-2 vote, affirmed the "plausibility" of South Africa's assertions regarding the need for protection of Palestinians from genocide.
Nevertheless, the court refrained from taking the most anticipated action by South Africa and the feared outcome by Israel – an immediate, unilateral ceasefire. Such a measure, if imposed, could have impeded the ongoing war effort and signified the court's belief in the active occurrence of genocide.
The ICJ decision “gives the clear message that in order to do all the things that they are asking for, you need a ceasefire for it to happen,” Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said.
“So fasten your seat belts,” he said, hinting that the Arab Group, represented on the council by Algeria, would push for one.
The Security Council, long divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, has only agreed to two resolutions since the October 7 Hamas attacks triggered the latest war following a mass killing spree by thousands of Palestinian terrorists that day in which 1,200 were killed and 253 taken hostage.
In December, the UN demanded aid deliveries “at scale” to Gaza. The US previously vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
