By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke will sit in the bench of judges that will hear the case of crimes against humanity brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said in a statement on Friday.
“South Africa has approached judge Dikgang Moseneke, who has agreed to join the other ICJ judges on the bench on an ad hoc basis and hear our case against Israel,” said the Department.
Dirco said that Moseneke agreed to join the other ICJ judges to hear the matter next Thursday.
As part of the ICJ laws, a state party to a case before the court may choose a judge ad hoc to hear that specific matter.
The international relations and co-operation department said, “South Africa is “gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants”.
On 29 December, South Africa filed an urgent application at the ICJ in The Hague, the Netherlands, “in which the court is requested to declare on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, should immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions”.
The case is set down for oral arguments on Thursday and Friday next week.
The announcement comes as fierce fighting continues in southern Gaza with Israeli forces bombarding the city of Khan Younis from the air and ground.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Tuesday that more than 200 people had been killed in 24 hours, taking the death toll from the Israeli assault on Gaza to more than 22,000.