This is the first time South Africa has challenged Israel over the ongoing war before the UN’s top court, where it is accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and requesting an order for Israel to stop its bombings. The complaint was filed on Friday. Israel “with disgust” quickly rejected the filing.
The International Court of Justice argument from South Africa claims that Israel’s “acts and omissions… are genocidal in character” since they are carried out with the intention of “destroying Palestinians in Gaza” as members of the larger Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.
South Africa’s criticism of Israel’s military operation in Gaza has been strong. Many people there, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have drawn comparisons between South Africa’s former apartheid system of racial segregation and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Such claims are denied by Israel.
South Africa requested that Israel immediately cease its military operations in Gaza by means of an interim order from a court located in The Hague. There will probably be a hearing on such request in the upcoming days or weeks. If the lawsuit proceeds, it may take years, but in the interim, a ruling might be made in a matter of weeks.
The claims of genocide were met with disdain by the Israeli government, which described them as a “blood libel.” In a statement, the Foreign Ministry claimed that South Africa’s case was a “despicable and contemptuous exploitation” of the court and had no legal basis.
Israel further charged that South Africa was working with Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization responsible for the October 7 strike in southern Israel that left several dead and started the current conflict.
Additionally, the statement stated that Israel follows international law, that it only targets Hamas with its military might, and that the people who live in Gaza are not enemies. It claimed to take action to reduce injury to people and permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the region.
Since Israel and South Africa are signatories to the Genocide Convention, South Africa may pursue the lawsuit under its provisions.
It remains to be seen if the case will be successful in stopping the war. Although enforceable by law, the court’s orders are not always followed. The court issued a binding ruling in March 2022 ordering Russia to cease hostilities in Ukraine, a decision that Moscow disregarded as it continued its operations.
“We are 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 foreign ministry of South Africa stated in a statement.
According to the ministry, there are “continuing reports of acts meeting the threshold of genocide or related crimes as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, having been and possibly still being committed in the context of the ongoing massacres in Gaza, as well as reports of international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, being committed.”
Earlier, the president of South Africa charged Israel of war crimes and actions “tantamount to genocide.” Additionally, South Africa pushed last month for an investigation into Israel’s activities in Gaza by the International Criminal Court, which is likewise headquartered in The Hague.
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; International Court of Justice arbitrates international disputes.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank applauded South Africa’s charges against Israel. The court was encouraged to “immediately take action to protect Palestinian people and call on Israel, the occupying power, to halt its onslaught against the Palestinian people,” according to a social media statement.
South Africa’s lawsuit “provides an important opportunity for the International Court of Justice to scrutinize Israel’s actions in Gaza using the Genocide Convention of 1948,” according to Balkees Jarrah, associate director of international justice at Human Rights Watch. “To provide clear, definitive answers on the question of whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” she stated, South Africa is looking to the highest court of the United Nations.
Jarrah emphasized that the case before the International Criminal Court (ICJ) “does not involve the International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate body, and it is not a criminal case against specific alleged perpetrators.” However, the ICJ case ought to spur further global support for fair justice at the ICC and other respectable forums.
