THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa filed a case Friday at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to stop its attacks, the first such Challenging the current war before the court. Israel quickly rejected the submission “with disgust.”
South Africa's submission to the International Court of Justice alleges that “Israel's actions and omissions…are genocidal in nature” as they are committed with the intent to “exterminate the Palestinians in Gaza” as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnic Community ethnic group.
South Africa has been a strong critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Many there, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have compared Israel's policies toward Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to the former apartheid regime of racial segregation in South Africa. Israel rejects such allegations.
South Africa has asked the Hague-based court to issue an injunction ordering Israel to immediately stop its military operations in Gaza. A hearing on this motion is likely in the coming days or weeks. If the case moves forward, it will take years, but an injunction could be issued within weeks.
The Israeli government rejected the genocide allegations “with disgust,” calling them a “blood libel.” A Foreign Ministry statement said South Africa's case had no legal basis and represented a “despicable and contemptible exploitation” of the court.
Israel also accused South Africa of collaborating with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group behind the deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war.
The statement also said Israel acted in accordance with international law and focused its military actions exclusively against Hamas, adding that Gazans were not an enemy. It said it was taking measures to minimize damage to civilians and to allow humanitarian assistance to flow into the area.
South Africa can bring the case under the Genocide Convention because both the country and Israel are signatories to this convention.
South Africa has filed proceedings at the United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Whether the case will succeed in stopping the war remains to be seen. Although the court's orders are legally binding, they are not always followed. In March 2022, the court ordered Russia to cease hostilities in Ukraine, a binding legal decision that Moscow ignored as it continued its attacks.
South Africa's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country is “deeply concerned about the plight of civilians affected by the current Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and the forcible displacement of residents.”
The ministry added that there are “ongoing reports of the commission of international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as reports that acts exceed the threshold of genocide or related crimes as defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948.” “Genocide has been committed and may still be committed in connection with the ongoing massacres in Gaza.”
South Africa's president previously accused Israel of war crimes and acts that “tantamount to genocide.” And South Africa last month pushed for the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, to investigate Israel's actions in Gaza.
The ICC prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, while the International Court of Justice resolves disputes between nations.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed South Africa's allegations against Israel. In a statement on social media, it called on the court to “take immediate action to protect the Palestinian people and call on the occupying power Israel to cease its attack against the Palestinian people.”
Balkees Jarrah, deputy director for international justice at Human Rights Watch, said South Africa's case “provides an important opportunity for the International Court of Justice to review Israel's actions in Gaza against the 1948 Genocide Convention.” She said South Africa is looking to the highest judicial authority the United Nations to “provide clear, definitive answers to the question of whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Jarrah emphasized that the ICJ case “is not a criminal case against individual alleged perpetrators and does not involve the International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate body.” But the ICJ case should also lead to greater international support for impartial justice at the ICC and other credible places.”
___
For more AP coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.