South Africa files ICJ lawsuit against Israel over ‘genocidal acts’
South Africa has instituted proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the regime’s "genocidal" onslaught on Gaza, which has so far killed over 21,000 Palestinians.
The lawsuit says Israel’s actions 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 acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” the lawsuit said.
The application said Israeli attacks breach the UN’s Genocide Convention, and urged the court to “order Israel to cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza.”
It said that "Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza."
South Africa institutes proceedings against the State of Israel before the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention and requests provisional measures pic.twitter.com/IzIi0EVPzT
— Ambassador Majed Bamya 🇵🇸 (@majedbamya) December 29, 2023
“The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” the lawsuit said.
The application urged the court to “order Israel to cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Israel's foreign ministry said it rejects the case launched by South Africa at the ICJ.
Various governments and rights organizations have denounced the Israeli genocide in Gaza and called for international investigations into it.
South Africa has been one of the outspoken critics of Israeli’s ongoing onslaught against Palestinians and has led some initiatives to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.
The country’s lawmakers last month voted in favor of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until the onslaught stops.
In November, the country referred Israel to the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating the occupied Palestinian territories.
South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority in South Africa during the repressive apartheid era.
The ICJ is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and helps settle disputes between states per international law.
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