The United Nations’ highest court said on Friday that Israel must take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces in the Gaza Strip, adding to the international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce death and destruction in the battered Palestinian enclave.

But the court did not rule on whether Israel was committing genocide, and it did not call on Israel to stop its military campaign to crush Hamas, as South Africa, which brought the case, had requested.

While the ruling had elements that each side could embrace, the court allowed the case charging Israel with genocide to proceed, which will likely keep the country under international scrutiny for years to come.

“The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region, and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” Joan E. Donoghue, the president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, said as she announced the interim ruling. The decision also ordered the delivery of more humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and called for the release of hostages held by armed groups in Gaza.

The South Africans who argued the case this month have equated the oppression they faced under apartheid with the plight of Palestinians.

The genocide accusation is acutely sensitive for Israel, which was founded in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Many Israelis argue that it is Hamas that should face charges of genocide after its attack on Oct. 7, when about 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 240 were taken captive, according to Israeli officials.

“The very notion that Israel is perpetrating genocide is not only false, it is outrageous, and the court’s willingness to discuss it is a mark of shame that will last for generations,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement on Friday.

For many Palestinians, the court decision was a rare moment of reckoning for Israel, whose campaign has been defended by the United States and other close allies. More than 25,000 people in Gaza have been killed since Israel’s offensive began, nearly 2 million have been displaced, and half of the population is at risk of starvation, according to the territory’s health officials and the United Nations.

“States now have clear legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza and to make sure that they are not complicit,” said Riad Malki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, which partly administers the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to Britain, said the decision should force the United States and its allies to rein in Israel’s military. “For 75 years, Israel has been getting away with murder,” Mr. Zomlot said in an interview. “But it is not going to get away with genocide.”

But some Palestinians expressed extreme disappointment that the court had not ordered Israel to stop its military offensive. “You failed Palestinians again,” Hind Khoudary, a journalist in Gaza, wrote on social media.

The U.S. State Department said the decision was “consistent with our view that Israel has the right to take action to ensure the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 cannot be repeated, in accordance with international law.”

The Biden administration has staunchly backed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, while urging that it do more to protect civilians.

“We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded,” the State Department said in a statement, “and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a cease-fire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas.”