South Africa has submitted a request to the International Court of Justice invoking the Genocide Convention, aiming to halt Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza.
The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation expressed deep concern about the indiscriminate use of force and the forced removal of civilians in the current Israeli attacks on Gaza.
The statement cited reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and actions meeting the genocide definition under the 1948 convention, with the possibility of further such acts.
On December 29, an application was filed with the ICJ, approved by South Africa’s cabinet, seeking an urgent declaration that Israel is violating its obligations according to the Genocide Convention.
The request urges Israel to cease all actions breaching those obligations and take related measures.
In the context, it was mentioned that twelve weeks after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns, resulting in casualties and hostages, Israeli forces have extensively damaged much of Gaza.
A significant portion of its 2.3 million population has been displaced multiple times. Recent Israeli strikes have caused additional Palestinian casualties, bringing the toll to 21,507, about 1 percent of Gaza’s population.
Despite calls from the United States for Israel to scale down the full-blown war and transition to targeted operations against Hamas leaders, Israel has not shown signs of doing so.
Instead, Israel initiated a new assault in the final week of the year, following the intense bombing of central areas.
