South Africa before International Court of Justice: The International Community Must Halt the Occupation’s Policy and Plan to Overrun Rafah Completely

South Africa called on the international community to enforce international law and halt Israel’s occupation policy and plan to completely overrun the city of Rafah, warning against its plans to displace Palestinians from their land in order to control it.

According to WAFA News Agency, the representative of the delegation of the state of South Africa said during the hearing of the International Court of Justice that the Israeli genocide continues in the Gaza Strip. There is a lot of clear evidence of Israel’s intention to commit it, and the previous orders of the International Court of Justice did not prevent it from committing this genocide,” pointing out that “what is happening now in Rafah indicates its intention to destroy the entire strip.”

He added: “Israel continues to violate international law and its resolutions in the absence of actions against it by the international community. It also violates the decisions of the International Court of Justice and United Nations bodies and continues its crimes against the Palestinians. Schools, hospitals and universities, as well as humanitarian and relief institutions, have been demolished.”

The representative of South Africa called on the international community to enforce international law and halt the occupation schemes aimed at completely overrunning Rafah, expressing concerns about the high number of victims of Israeli aggression in light of Israel’s non-compliance with international standards and humanitarian agreements.

In the application submitted to the court, a group of lawyers and legal representatives of the state of South Africa pointed out that the previous orders and measures approved by the court on January 26 did not prevent subsequent crimes, which prompted the issuance of new orders in March.

The group considered that the entire Palestinian people needed to be protected from extermination by court order, as there was evidence of continued occupation and shelling, in addition to the interception of aid convoys and the discovery of mass graves. All the images from Gaza point to the continuing massacre and the court must act urgently to prevent the violation of the Palestinian people’s rights.

The group warned of the consequences of the inability to obtain all the details taking place inside Gaza as a result of the occupation preventing media investigations in Gaza and the killing of more than 140 journalists since the beginning of the aggression, stressing that the Prevention of genocide is one of the established norms in international humanitarian law and that nothing justifies it.

The group expressed fears of increasing starvation in light of the lack of humanitarian supplies and assistance, as the facts on the ground show the extent of violation of international humanitarian law, as the entire Gaza Strip, especially Rafah, is being subjected to a humanitarian crime.

It called for an end to the aggression and the exit of the occupation from the Gaza Strip, the opening of crossings, the return of humanitarian relief institutions, and the provision of basic requirements for Palestinians of water, medicines, treatment and other life requirements that have become missing in light of the presence of one and a half million refugees in Rafah.

Amal Farhat