South Africa on Monday submitted evidence of Israel’s genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“South Africa has filed its memorial to the International Court of Justice today, 28 Oct. 2024, in its case on the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip,” the Presidency said in a statement issued on Monday evening.
“The evidence is detailed in over 750 pages of text, supported by exhibits and annexes of over 4,000 pages,” it said.
This is the latest step taken by South Africa in a case the country initiated in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
While the memorial cannot be made public under ICJ rules, its filing “takes place at a time when Israel is intensifying the killing of civilians in Gaza and now seems intent to follow a similar path of destruction in Lebanon,” said the Presidency.
According to the statement, “the memorial … contains evidence which shows how the government of Israel has violated the Genocide Convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza, physically killing them with an assortment of destructive weapons, depriving them of access to humanitarian assistance, causing conditions of life which are aimed at their physical destruction and ignoring and defying several provisional measures of the ICJ, and using starvation as a weapon of war and to further Israel’s aims to depopulate Gaza through mass death and forced displacement of Palestinians.”
“The evidence will show that undergirding Israel’s genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide,” said the statement.
The South African Presidency noted that the memorial serves as a reminder to the global community to remember the people of Palestine, to stand in solidarity with them, and to prevent further catastrophe.
“The devastation and suffering have been made possible only because, despite actions and interventions by the ICJ and numerous UN bodies, Israel has failed to comply with its international obligations,” said the Presidency.
“We reiterate our appeal for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine, Lebanon and the entire region, and the start of a political process to ensure a just and lasting peace,” it added.
In December last year, South Africa approached the ICJ seeking an interdict for the court to compel Israel to halt attacks on Palestine and to declare these acts as genocide. In January, the UN court ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide and to ensure humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
