South Africa has filed a case
at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is engaging in
“genocidal acts” in Gaza.
The UN court confirmed the application concerning alleged
violations of Israel’s obligations under the Genocide Convention.
Israel has strongly rejected the allegation, calling it
“baseless”.
“Israel rejects with disgust the blood libel spread by South Africa”,
the foreign ministry said.
The ICJ, which is based in the Hague in the Netherlands, is the
UN’s principal judicial organ. It settles disputes between states and gives
advisory opinions on international legal issues.
Following its application to the ICJ, South Africa’s presidency
said in a statement that the country was obliged “to prevent genocide from
occurring”.
“South Africa is 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,” it said.
“Furthermore, there are ongoing reports of international crimes,
such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, being committed as well as
reports that acts meeting the threshold of genocide or related crimes… have
been and may still be committed in the context of the ongoing massacres in
Gaza.”
The 84-page document states that the “acts and omissions by
Israel” are “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about
the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and
ethnical group”.
The application asks the ICJ for a hearing to take place next
week and requests that a number “provisional measures” be indicated by the
court, including that Israel cease all military activities in Gaza.
Lior Haiat, a spokesman for Israel’s foreign affairs ministry,
said South Africa’s claim “constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation
of the Court.”
He said South Africa was “cooperating with a terrorist organisation
that is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel” and said Hamas was
“responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by using
them as human shields and stealing humanitarian aid from them”.
“Israel is committed to international law and acts in accordance
with it, and directs its military efforts only against the Hamas terrorist
organization and the other terrorist organizations cooperating with Hamas,” Mr
Haiat said.
“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 the non-involved
and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.”