South Africa has filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, after nearly three months of relentless Israeli bombings that killed more than 21,500 people and caused widespread destruction in the besieged enclave.
In a submission to the court on Friday, South Africa described Israel's actions in Gaza as “genocidal in nature because they aim to bring about the destruction of a significant part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
“The acts in question include the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, the infliction of serious physical and mental injuries, and the imposition of living conditions likely to bring about their physical destruction,” the application states.
People watch as the shrouded bodies of Palestinians killed in the northern Gaza Strip, taken by Israel and later released, are buried in a mass grave in Rafah on December 26 [Mahmud Hams/AFP]
The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, is a civil court of the United Nations that decides disputes between countries. It is different from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals for war crimes.
As members of the United Nations, both South Africa and Israel are bound by the court.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared Israel's policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to his country's previous apartheid regime, which was marked by racial segregation imposed by white minority rule that ended in 1994.
Several human rights organizations have stated that Israeli policies toward Palestinians amount to apartheid.
PRESS RELEASE: #South Africa initiates proceedings against it #Israel and asks them #ICJ to view interim measures https://t.co/WedDXvtBD4 pic.twitter.com/VCCDyORrLy
– CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) December 29, 2023
Global condemnation
South Africa said Israel's behavior, particularly since the war began on October 7, violated the United Nations Genocide Convention and called for an expedited hearing. The request also asks the court to specify interim measures to “protect against further, serious and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people” under the convention.
“South Africa is deeply concerned about the fate of the civilians affected by the current Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and the forcible relocation of residents,” said a statement from the South African Ministry of International Relations and Collaboration (DIRCO). , adding that the country has “repeatedly stated that it condemns any violence and attacks against all civilians, including Israelis.”
“South Africa has continually called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the resumption of talks to end the violence arising from the ongoing belligerent occupation of Palestine,” the statement continued.
Israel has rejected global calls for a ceasefire, saying the war will not end until the Hamas group, whose Oct. 7 attack sparked the current phase of the conflict, is destroyed. Around 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack in Israel. The Palestinian group said its attack was aimed at Israel's 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and the expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Settlement expansion represents the biggest hurdle to achieving a future Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In the latest development in Israel's war on Gaza, tens of thousands of newly displaced Palestinians in the center of the Palestinian enclave were forced to flee further south on Friday as Israel expanded its ground and air offensive in the center of the enclave.
Israel has been condemned around the world for the rising death toll and destruction and is accused of collectively punishing the Palestinian people.
“A very important step”
The court filing is the latest move by South Africa, a vocal critic of Israel's war, to step up pressure after its lawmakers voted last month to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspend all diplomatic ties until a ceasefire is agreed.
Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from United Nations headquarters in New York, said the move was “clearly a very important step in trying to assume some responsibility towards Israel.”
“Now that South Africa is taking the matter to the International Court of Justice, it will move forward [the UN’s] “I will try to make a decision on this very important issue,” he added.
On November 16, a group of 36 UN experts called on the international community to “prevent a genocide against the Palestinian people” and called Israel's actions since October 7 a “genocide in the making.”
Palestinians inspect the rubble of an Al Nawasrah family building destroyed in an Israeli attack in Maghazi refugee camp December 25 [Adel Hana/AP Photo]“We are deeply concerned by the failure of governments to heed our call and achieve an immediate ceasefire.” “We are also deeply concerned by certain governments' support for Israel's war strategy against the besieged population of Gaza and beyond the failure of the international system to take measures to prevent genocide,” the experts said in a statement.
Israel rejects South Africa's allegations
Israel has rejected South Africa's move as “baseless” and called it a “blood libel.”
“South Africa’s lawsuit has no basis in both fact and law and represents a despicable and contemptible exploitation of the court,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Lior Haiat said in a statement published on X.
“Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy and is making every effort to limit harm to bystanders and enable humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip,” the statement continued.
“It focuses public opinion on the reality of what is happening in Palestine, not just in Gaza but also in the West Bank,” said Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
According to Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, genocide is acts committed with “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”
“The disagreement is whether there is intent or not,” Bishara said.
“The three top Israeli officials have declared their intentions, starting with Israeli President Herzog when he said there are 'no innocents' in Gaza and the defense minister who said Israel will impose collective punishment on the people of Gaza because they are 'humane “Animals are',” Bishara said, adding that Prime Minister Netanyahu also used a biblical analogy in a statement widely interpreted as a call for genocide.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed South Africa's move and called on the International Court of Justice to take immediate action to “prevent further harm to the Palestinian people.”
“Israel's stated policies, actions and omissions are genocidal in nature and are carried out with the requisite specific intent to destroy the Palestinian people under its colonial occupation and apartheid regime, thereby violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” said a statement from the Israel Defense Forces Ministry.
“The State of Palestine calls on the international community and the Parties to the Convention to fulfill their obligations and assist the Court in the proceedings.”