ICJ begins examining South Africa’s genocide case against Israel
The Hague (ST) – International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering today the lawsuit filed by the State of South Africa on the 29th of last December against Israel, after it accused “Israel” of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip.
Wafa News Agency reported that the court, with its 15-judge panel, will hear the State of South Africa and its legal team for two hours, and the session will be adjourned for deliberation. On Friday, the court will hear Israel, and then the session will be adjourned to consider urgent procedures and measures.
South Africa submitted an 84-page plea in English, in which it presents evidence that Israel, the occupying power, has violated its obligations under the United Nations Charter, and its involvement in committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
In the application submitted to the International Court of Justice, South Africa requested “indication of interim measures in order to protect against further serious and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, and to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention not to engage in, prevent and punish genocide.”
Assistant Secretary of State for the UN and its specialized organizations, Omar Awadallah, stated that South Africa, a member state in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, submitted a controversial case to the ICJ to decide necessary and urgent interim measures to stop aggression against Palestinians, cease the deliberate imposition of living conditions aimed at their physical elimination as a group, prevent and punish the commission, complicity, and direct and public incitement of genocide, and to abolish relevant policies and practices, including with regard to restricting the entry of aid and forced displacement plans.
The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on December 9, 1948, and it entered into force on January 12, 1951.
It is noteworthy that since the 7th of last October, the occupation has launched a devastating aggression against Gaza, which has claimed the lives of 23357 martyrs and 59410 wounded, in addition to more than 7 thousand missing people and the displacement of about 2 million. The aggression also caused massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented health and humanitarian catastrophe.
Najla Khoury