ISTANBUL

A former Israeli Supreme Court president and Israel's representative at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced the end of his term as a judge at the ICJ, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Wednesday.

“Today I sent the president of the International Court of Justice a notice of my resignation from my position as an ad hoc judge at the ICJ,” Aharon Barak said in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the daily.

“My resignation is for personal and family reasons. I thank you for the trust placed in me,” he added.

The 87-year-old Barak was part of a 15-judge panel at the ICJ that heard a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and nearly 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.