Thousands at Belfast Palestine rally after UN court stops short of calling for Israeli ceasefire

Thousands turned out in Belfast city centre for a rally to call for a ceasefire. Credit: UTV.

Thousands of people have turned out to another rally in Belfast city centre, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine.

The rallies have been an almost weekly fixture since Israel's bombardment of Gaza in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack which killed some 1,200 people.

Since then, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza says that 25,000 civilian lives have been killed by the Israeli military, with the United Nations saying women and children are the main victims.

The Belfast rally fell on Holocaust Memorial Day.

Those gathered heard from several speakers including American Jewish activist, Jesse Reuben.

The gathering comes after a UN court stopped short of branding Israel's actions a genocide, but ordered Israel to contain the death and destruction in its military offensive in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) refused to throw out the case.

Israel vehemently rejected an accusation of genocide and had asked for it to be thrown out. The Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Maliki welcomed “the significant order.”

According to the ICJ, Israel must prevent the displacement of Gaza residents from their homes, and is responsible for ensuring adequate, food, water, humanitarian assistance and medical supplies are able to reach the people there.

Israel has also been ordered to avoid the destruction of any evidence, such as military orders - which are pertinent to the allegations - and cannot prevent access to fact-finding international missions.

The ruling will come into force immediately, with all official UN bodies expected to comply.

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