South Africa has called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to intervene and order Israel to halt its assault on Rafah, as part of a case accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians. Media reported this request on Thursday.
South Africa initiated this legal action in January, citing Israel’s war on Gaza. The current plea seeks additional emergency measures in response to the offensive on Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip where over one million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from attacks on other parts of the enclave.
Representing South Africa in The Hague, lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued that the Palestinian people are facing “ongoing annihilation,” describing the assault on Rafah as “part of the endgame in which Gaza is utterly destroyed.” Despite explicit warnings of potential “genocidal” outcomes, Israel continues its operations in Rafah, Ngcukaitobi noted.
Israel has dismissed South Africa’s accusations of violating the 1949 Genocide Convention as unfounded. Israel is expected to respond to these allegations on Friday. Ahead of the court hearings, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant affirmed that the operation in Rafah would persist and that additional forces would be deployed to the area.
Rafah is an overcrowded city where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in tents, facing dire conditions including the rapid spread of diseases, severe food shortages, and lack of clean water. The city’s only hospital has ceased operations, leaving a small facility overwhelmed by the needs of the population.
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In the past, ICJ judges have issued provisional measures, directing Israel to mitigate humanitarian suffering in Gaza. These measures included ensuring that basic food supplies reach Palestinians in Gaza without delay. Currently, all Gazans suffer from severe hunger, with some facing famine due to Israel’s total siege.
Earlier this month, the Israeli army seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, a crucial route for humanitarian aid. Aid agencies have warned that this closure has severely hampered their efforts.
South Africa emphasized in a written submission to the court that Rafah is Gaza’s primary hub for humanitarian assistance, warning that “if Rafah falls, so too does Gaza.” Lawyer Adila Hassim argued that the obstruction of humanitarian aid is a deliberate act to extinguish Palestinian lives, amounting to starvation to the point of famine.
