By Maeve Bannister in Sydney

Australia is being urged to reconsider its support for the Israeli government after the top United Nations court ordered the Jewish state to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Multiple Australian-based humanitarian organisations have welcomed the ruling as the Greens call on the Albanese government to place Magnitsky-style sanctions on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet.

The World Court ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire as requested by the plaintiff South Africa.

While the ruling denied Palestinian hopes of a binding order to halt the war in Gaza, it also represented a legal setback for Israel, which had hoped to throw out a case brought under the genocide convention established in the ashes of the Holocaust.

In its ruling handed down overnight (AEDT), the court found there was a case to be heard about whether Palestinian rights were being denied in a war it said was causing grievous humanitarian harm.

It also called for Palestinian armed groups to release hostages captured in the October 7 attacks on Israel that precipitated the conflict.

Greens leader Adam Bandt called on governments around the world, including Australia, to act.

“The implications of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark ruling are clear: the invasion of Gaza must stop, the occupation of Palestine must end and the serious risk of genocide must be prevented,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government made foreign policy according to Australia’s national interest.

“I think it’s really important that people have an appropriate response … we value every innocent life and we need to protect every innocent life, whether that be Israeli or Palestinian,” he told reporters on Saturday.

Australian Centre for International Justice executive director Rawan Arraf told 2GB the federal government could reassess its ties to Israel in light of the ICJ ruling.

“Australia also has legal obligations as a state party to the genocide convention and that means it really needs to review all of its economic, political and military ties with the state of Israel,” she said.

The Australian Council For International Development urged the government to amplify calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the region.

“In more than 100 days of war, the world has witnessed the death of over 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 65,000 injured, as well as 1.7 million internally displaced, and the collapse of healthcare, education and welfare systems,” chief executive Marc Purcell said.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond dire.”

More than 1200 Israelis were killed and 240 taken hostage in an attack on October 7, according to Tel Aviv officials.

In response, Israel’s bombardment, blockade and ground invasion of Gaza has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, put half the territory’s 2.3 million residents at risk of starvation and left more than 60 per cent without homes, local health officials and the UN said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton issued a statement to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, reflecting on the October 7 attack.

He said the day was an opportunity to remember the story of the Jewish people was one of strength, solidarity and survival.

“There is a remarkability at the core of the Jewish character which has seen the Jewish people triumph over subjugation, persecution, dispossession, exile and massacre in history and it is that same remarkability which will see them prevail over present ordeals.”

–with Reuters