At the International Court of Justice on January 26 (Photo:  Reuters)

In an interim judgment delivered on Friday, the president of the court, Joan Donoghue, said Israel must “take all measures within its power” to prevent acts that fall within the scope of the genocide convention and must ensure “with immediate effect” that its forces do not commit any of the acts covered by the convention.

The court stopped short of granting South Africa’s request to order an immediate ceasefire to the conflict, which has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.