By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa has made an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether Israel’s decision to extend its military operations in Rafah requires that the court use its power to prevent further breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, presidency said on Tuesday.
South Africa cited section 1 of Article 75 of the Rules of Court, which says the court “may at any time decide to examine proprio motu whether the circumstances of the case require the indication of provisional measures which ought to be taken or complied with by any or all of the parties.”
In a request submitted to the court yesterday, South African government said it was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by Israel, has already led to and will result in further large scale killing, harm and destruction. This would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court’s Order of 26 January 2024.
“South Africa trusts this matter will receive the necessary urgency in light of the daily death toll in Gaza,” the Presidency said.
Last month, the United Nations (UN) top court ordered Israel to, among others, take all measures within its power “to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide” and to immediately ensure that Palestinians have access to basic services and humanitarian assistance.
Israel denies committing genocide in Gaza and says it does all it can to spare civilians and is only targeting Hamas militants. It says Hamas’ tactic of embedding in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.
Rafah, a city in southern Gaza Strip home to 1.5 million Palestinians, was hit by airstrikes overnight. Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to evacuate civilians ahead of the offensive which killed 74, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Since the attack, US president Joe Biden on Monday said he was pushing for a six-week pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Biden, who has shown increasing exasperation with Netanyahu for not heeding his advice, said the US was working with allies in the region on the deal.
South Africa’s legal efforts are rooted in issues central to its identity: The governing party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.