Diplomatic tension rose again on Friday between Pretoria and Israel. South Africa has in fact filed a request against the Jewish state before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for “acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
Pretoria also asked the main judicial body of the United Nations to take urgent measures to “protect the Palestinian people in Gaza”, in particular by ordering Israel to “immediately end all military attacks”.
Israel’s anger at ‘defamation’
“Israel rejects with disgust the defamation (…) propagated by South Africa and its appeal to the International Court of Justice,” the spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lior Haiat, immediately reacted on X.
South Africa, a fervent defender of the Palestinian cause, is one of the most critical countries of the massive and deadly Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the bloody attacks in Israel carried out on October 7 by Hamas. She considers that “Israel, in particular since October 7, 2023 (…) has engaged, is engaging and risks continuing to engage in acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza”, according to the ICJ.
The ICJ without the means to apply its decisions
Pretoria asserts that Israel’s “acts and omissions are of a genocidal character, as they are accompanied by the required specific intent…to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza as part of the larger national, racial and ethnic group of Palestinians,” underlined the court based in The Hague. “These acts are all attributable to Israel, which failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in clear violation of the Genocide Convention,” according to the text.
The ICJ, which judges disputes between states, is expected to hold hearings in the coming weeks. But, if its decisions are final, it has no means of enforcing them. It can also order emergency measures pending the full resolution of cases which can take many years.
South Africa specified in its request that it had turned to the court to “establish Israel’s responsibility for violations of the Genocide Convention”, but also to “ensure the urgent and most complete protection possible for Palestinians.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which also sits in The Hague and which judges individuals, also received a request last month from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, the Comoros and Djibouti for an investigation into the situation in the “State of Palestine”. The ICC also opened investigations in 2021 into possible war crimes carried out in the Palestinian Territories by both Israel and Hamas.