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Join on Telegram Rabat – South Africa has formally initiated legal proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the nation of committing acts amounting to genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The application, filed under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, asserts that Israel’s actions demonstrate a specific intent to annihilate Palestinians in Gaza as part of a broader ethnic and national group.
“Acts and omissions by Israel . . . are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent . . . to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” the application states.
The filing, made on December 29, alleges that Israel has through its state organs, agents and affiliated entities consistently violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
The application also draws special attention to Israel’s failure to prevent and prosecute direct and public incitement to genocide since October 7, 2023.
Shockingly, more than 1.9 million individuals, constituting 85% of Gaza’s population, have been forcibly evacuated in the wake of orders from the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF).
The application also includes a request for provisional measures, aiming to protect the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention and to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations to prevent and punish genocide.
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Since Israel launched its murderous Gaza campaign on October 7, the IOF is reported to have caused 21,507 deaths and 55,915 injuries, predominantly among children and women. The widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, with 60% of the besieged Palestinian enclave’s structures damaged or destroyed.
South Africa seeks to establish the ICJ’s jurisdiction based on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and Article IX of the Genocide Convention, both of which are binding on both South Africa and Israel.
In response, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement in which it vehemently dismissed South Africa’s move as a “blood conspiracy.”
The statement describes South Africa’s argument as lacking both factual and legal basis, labeling it a “cheap exploitation” of the International Court of Justice.
The ministry concluded its statement by calling on the ICJ and the international community to outright reject South Africa’s allegations of Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
