South Africa is hopeful ahead of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing on its genocide case against Israel, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has told Ubuntu Radio.
The ICJ will meet in The Hague on Friday, to discuss potential emergency measures against Israel regarding alleged violations of the UN’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The 17-judge ICJ panel is expected to announce their decision by the end of the day.
The three letters ‘ICJ’ were not known to many people in South Africa until the case was filed, Pandor added. According to her, the main aim has been “to highlight the plight of the innocent in Palestine” and “draw attention to the lack of justice and freedom.” She added that regardless of success or failure, “the real analysis and judgment is going to be on the court itself.”
Pretoria called for a preliminary ruling to compel Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza as part of two days of hearings earlier this month. The allegations have been strongly denied by Israel, which has called for the case to be dismissed.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, launching rockets and taking hostages. The Israel Defense Forces responded with a massive bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza, as well as cutting off the water and electricity supplies. Palestinian health officials report that since the war began, more than 25,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Gaza. According to official Israeli statistics, at least 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, and 248 hostages were taken in the initial assault by Palestinian armed groups.