Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will hear a case on Israel’s “genocidal” acts in the besieged Gaza Strip next week, as a horrible nightmare of bloodshed in the Palestinian territory is unfolding due to the occupying regime’s incessant bombing.
South Africa, in an 84-page suit filed against Israel at the ICJ on December 29, asked the top court to urgently declare that the Tel Aviv regime has breached its responsibilities under international law since October 7, when it launched an ongoing war on the densely-populated coastal sliver.
Pretoria detailed evidence of brutality being perpetrated in Gaza, making South African the first country to file a lawsuit against Israel at the United Nations’ top court.
The ICJ “will hold public hearings at the Peace Palace in The Hague… in proceedings instituted by South Africa against Israel,” on January 11 and 12, the court said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 22,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 57,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
South Africa says the Israeli regime has violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention, stressing that it “has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Pretoria, amongst other urgent measures, is asking the ICJ to order that “Israel shall immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.”
Israel has already rejected South Africa’s legal move “with disgust”, while the United States, Tel Aviv’s staunch ally and supporter, denounced the submission as “meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact.”
South Africa will present its arguments on January 11 (next Thursday), while Israel is set to counter on January 12 (next Friday).
Almost three months into the war, Tel Aviv has failed to achieve its declared objective of eliminating Hamas and finding Israeli captives in Gaza.
