Following almost three months of nonstop Israeli assault, the violence resulted in over 21,500 deaths and extensive damage throughout the besieged enclave. South Africa has filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, charging it with genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza.
South Africa said Israel’s activities in Gaza amounts to genocide in nature as they are meant for the purpose of bringing about the extermination of a significant portion of the “Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group” in an appeal to the ICJ.
According to the case, the actions in dispute involve murdering Palestinian people in Gaza, seriously injuring their bodies and minds, and subjecting them to living conditions designed to cause their physical demise.
The International Court of Justice is a United Nations civil court that decides international cases. It is not to be confused with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which brings war crimes cases against people.
Israel and South Africa are both obligated by the ICJ as members of the UN.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, has drawn comparisons between Israel’s practices in Gaza and the West Bank and the racial prejudice system of his own nation, which was enforced by the White government and abolished in 1994.
According to a number of human rights organizations, Israeli actions towards Palestinians are tantamount to apartheid.
According to South Africa, Israel has been acting in a way that is against the UN Genocide Convention, especially since the conflict started on October 7. It demanded a prompt hearing. In accordance with the Convention, the plea further asks the court to specify interim steps to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.”
A Case by South Africa
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation asserted in a statement that “South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants.”
The statement further stated that South Africa has consistently demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire as well as the restart of negotiations to terminate the brutalities brought on by Israel’s aggressive control over Palestinian lands.
Rejecting international pleas for a ceasefire, Israel declared that the conflict would not end until the Hamas organization was annihilated. The strike by Hamas on October 7 started the current chapter in the warfare. Hamas attack in Israel claimed the lives of almost 1,200 people.
According to the Palestinian organization, Israeli 16yo siege of Gaza and the growth of settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank are the primary objectives of their attack. The largest obstacle to the establishment of a future Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem is the growth of settlements.
Several thousands of freshly evacuated Palestinians from the north in the center of the Palestinian territory were compelled to move further south on Friday, marking the most recent phase in Israel’s attack on Gaza.
