Gaza war
South Africa appeals again to the UN court over the humanitarian situation in Gaza
A view of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice. South Africa sued Israel at the end of December. Now the country would like to take urgent action against Israel again. photo
© Patrick Post/AP/dpa
South Africa had already sued Israel at the International Court of Justice at the end of December. Now the country is again taking urgent action against Israel.
At the end of December, South Africa sued Israel before the International Court of Justice for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention committed in the Gaza war. The UN court ruled in an interim ruling that Israel must take protective measures to prevent genocide.
“In view of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza – in particular the widespread famine – caused by Israel’s ongoing egregious violations” of the Convention, South Africa is compelled to request further interim orders, it said.
Israel: 50 percent more deliveries than before the start of the war
In view of increasingly harsh criticism from other countries about the catastrophic supply situation in the Gaza Strip, the government in Jerusalem emphasized that more aid supplies were currently arriving in the coastal strip than before the start of the war. “In the past two weeks, an average of 102 food shipments have entered the Gaza Strip every day. That is almost 50 percent more than before Hamas started the war on October 7,” said government spokesman Eylon Levy.
There is a “flood of false reports that Israel would limit the amount of aid deliveries. “There are no restrictions. I repeat: none,” the spokesman emphasized.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is dramatic
Nevertheless, the situation of the people in the small coastal strip is increasingly desperate and, according to the UN, there is a risk of famine if aid deliveries by truck are not increased. Around 2.2 million people live in the Gaza Strip. South Africa complained that at least 15 children starved to death last week.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 30,717 people have been killed in Gaza so far. The number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.