Israel dismissed the case as a "grossly distorted story" and said that if any genocidal acts had been carried out, they had been executed against Israel during the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.
"What Israel seeks by operating in Gaza is not to destroy a people, but to protect a people, its people, who are under attack on multiple fronts," said Tal Becker, Israel's top lawyer.
Israel must report back to it on what steps it was taking in a month's time, the court said.
But while the ICJ's decisions are final and without appeal, the court has no way to enforce them.
Although its rulings are legally binding, it has no mechanism to enforce them and they are sometimes completely ignored -- it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine for example.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already hinted Israel would not abide by any ruling saying "no one will stop us", not even a verdict in The Hague.
But experts believe that aside from the significant symbolic impact of the ruling, there could be tangible consequences on the ground.
"It makes it much harder for other states to continue to support Israel in the face of a neutral third party finding there is a risk of genocide," said Juliette McIntyre, international law expert from the University of South Australia.
"States may withdraw military or other support for Israel in order to avoid this," she added.
The court did not rule at this stage on the core of the case brought by South Africa - whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. But it recognised the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide.
South Africa's deputy president Paul Mashatile and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola were seen cheering and dancing at a gathering of the governing African National Congress party following the court's verdict.
South Africa argued two weeks ago that Israel's aerial and ground offensive was aimed to bring about "the destruction of the population" of Gaza.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".
Acts of genocide named in the convention include: Killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in whole or in part.
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2024-01-26 13:05:00Z
CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvdW4tY291cnQtaWNqLW9yZGVyLWlzcmFlbC1nZW5vY2lkZS1nYXphLXBhbGVzdGluaWFucy1zb3V0aC1hZnJpY2EtY2FzZS00MDc3NDM20gEA
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