Amid Gaza horror, South Africa drags Israel to ICJ for ‘genocide’
South African President Cyrill Ramaphosa
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, December 30: South Africa has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice for ‘genocidal killings in Gaza as part of a design to eliminate the Palestinian people’. The South African move has come amid claims that North Gaza has now been reduced to a rubble with thousands of the people killed by the Israeli airstrikes in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, in a media statement said that “South Africa today filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”) in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
The ICJ further stated that the South Africa has asserted in the application that “acts and omissions by Israel . . . are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent . . . to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group and that the conduct of Israel — through its State organs, State agents, and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence — in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention”.
While the US-led western allies have so far blocked all attempts at the United Nations to restrain Israel from carrying out punitive actions in Gaza, leaving trails of civilians’ casualties, South Africa has become the first country to move to the ICJ. The experts have commented that South Africa hopes for an interim order from the ICJ even while the proceedings may continue for years.
There has been a global outcry against the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Noted historian William Dalrymple, while commenting on a short video purportedly showing North Gaza in a rubble, posted on the social media platform X: “So all you cheerleaders for the most moral army in the world with your claims of pinpoint accuracy. Take a look at what you enabled. This is the Genghis Khan model of warfare: total destruction, mass slaughter of civilians, complete eradication. Netanyahu says he has barely begun. Don’t be on the wrong side of history.”
Dalrymple’s comments were aimed at the claims of the Israeli defence forces which claim to be targeting the Hamas commanders with precision airstrikes. However, The New York Times in an investigative report endorsed the claims of the findings of the United Nations that the Israeli airstrikes left a deathly trails of civilians.
The US daily confirmed the UN findings of November 26 that the Israeli airstrikes reduced to rubble as many as 580 buildings in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The newspaper employed satellite images to argue that Israeli airstrikes, aimed at eliminating a Hamas commander, killed civilians in a large number as the impacts of missiles turned densely populated areas into large craters.
The South African application further stated that “Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide, and that Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
The ICJ stated in the media statement that South Africa seeks to found the Court’s jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on Article IX of the Genocide Convention, to which both South Africa and Israel are parties. The Application also contains a Request for the indication of provisional measures, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court, added the ICJ statement.
Meanwhile, there appears no signs of an early cessation of military actions in North Gaza as Israel has launched a campaign to call upon the Israelis living abroad to join the military services. The US also in an emergency decision has approved a sale of a fresh batch of ammunitions to Israel while negotiations to release the hostages held by the Hamas linger on.
Barak Ravid reported for Axios: “Qatar told Israel that Hamas has agreed in principle to resume talks on a new deal to secure the release of around three dozen hostages held in Gaza in return for several weeks of ceasefire.”
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