South Africa to submit Gaza war crimes evidence to UN court
South Africa says it plans to file a memorial document with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) next month to provide evidence that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office announced the move on Tuesday, vowing that a lawsuit it initiated against the Israeli government late last year will continue until the top court issues its ruling.
Africa’s most advanced economy filed a case with The Hague-based ICJ back in December, alleging that Israel’s offensive in Gaza following a surprise attack by Hamas on the Jewish state more than 11 months ago is “genocidal in character.” Israel declared war on Hamas following a series of raids by the Gaza-based militant group last October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis. Since then, Israeli military operations have resulted in nearly 41,000 Palestinian deaths and 95,000 injuries according to the local health ministry, turning much of Gaza into rubble and rendering it uninhabitable.
South Africa, a longtime supporter of Palestinian independence, has accused West Jerusalem of attempting to wipe out a significant portion of the Palestinian population.
In May, the top UN court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after initially directing it to take all measures to prevent any acts that could be deemed war crimes. The hostilities, however, have persisted.
Several countries, including Nicaragua, Palestine, Türkiye, Spain, Mexico, Libya, and Colombia, have all moved to join the case against the Israeli government. The ICJ has set an October 28 deadline for South Africa to present arguments for continuing the case.
“While the case is in progress, we hope that Israel will abide by the court’s provisional orders issued to date,” Pretoria said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement comes amid reports that West Jerusalem has begun lobbying the US Congress to put pressure on South Africa’s new multi-party government to drop the ICJ suit.
According to a memo cited by Axios on Monday, Israeli diplomats have been told to push for bills targeting the African nation on state and federal levels, so “that even if they won’t materialize, presenting them and talking about them will be important.” The Israeli diplomats will also try to convince Pretoria that it has a chance to pursue dialogue with Israel “instead of boycotts and punishments,” the outlet reported.
