(L-R) John Dugard, professor of International Law, lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi and lawyer Adila Hassim, sit ahead of the hearing of the genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, The Netherlands, 12 January 2024. According to the South Africans, Israel is currently committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the allegations which has been denied by Israel. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave which followed it. Picture: EPA-EFE/REMKO DE WAAL
South Africa’s legal team has filed hundreds of pages in its memorial to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), saying that it has presented a clear case to the United Nations’ top court in The Hague that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
South Africa filed its memorial to the ICJ on Monday, as Israel’s parliament approved a bill banning the main UN aid agency for the war-devastated Gaza Strip, sparking international outcry.
In accordance with ICJ rules, the filing remains confidential until it is published by the court.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said that South Africa’s filing at the ICJ includes 750 pages of primary text, along with more than 4,000 pages of exhibits and annexes, to demonstrate that Israel is intentionally seeking to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.
“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.
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“South Africa’s Memorial is a reminder to the global community to remember the people of Palestine, to stand in solidarity with them and to stop the catastrophe. The devastation and suffering has been possible only because despite the ICJ and numerous UN bodies’ actions and interventions, Israel has failed to comply with its international obligations,” Magwenya said.
Magwenya said the filing of this memorial 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.
He said the action taken by South Africa since December 2023, culminating in the filing of this memorial, has generated overwhelming national and international interest.
The filing “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 access to humanitarian assistance, causing conditions of life which are aimed at their physical destruction and ignoring and defying several provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, 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.”
Israel must convince the ICJ that South Africa’s assertions of intent are without merit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government previously said the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza was the fault of Hamas, and the high number of deaths was a function of how Hamas chose to conduct the war.
Israel has until July 2025 to file its counter-memorial.
“The glaring genocide in Gaza is there for all who are not blinded by prejudice to see,” Magwenya said, while Israel has failed to comply with its obligations and with emergency ICJ orders, issued before it fully considers SA’s case.
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In its initial application, South Africa submitted an 84-page application at the ICJ on 29 December 2023, pleading with the court to find Israel guilty of suspected genocide and order it to, among other things, halt its invasion in Gaza.
Since launching the case at the ICJ, South Africa has approached the court four times, requesting interim measures to halt Israel’s attacks on the occupied territory.
Despite three orders being granted in South Africa’s favour this year, they have had little to no impact on all forms of Israel’s attacks on Palestinian life, essential services and the need for humanitarian aid.
If accepted, South Africa’s case would mark a historic first, as no state has successfully prosecuted another for genocide under the Genocide Convention of 1948.
In August, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was confident that South Africa would prove that Israel is committing genocide against the people of Palestine.
“As the honourable member knows we have continued to take action at the International Court of Justice, having initiated the action last year. We have continued to approach that court with further pleas and submissions to the court to make further rulings and to tighten up what they ruled in our favour last year.”
Ramaphosa said South Africa has also received support from other countries in its case against Israel.
Israel’s war on Gaza has continued unabated for more than a year, with the number of Palestinians killed as a result of Israeli bombardment and ground operation surpassing 43,000 as of 28 October.
The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s 7 October attacks stands at 1 139, with dozens of people still held captive.
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An analysis by Oxfam published on 1 October 2024 reported that the Israeli army has killed more children and women in Gaza during the past year than the equivalent period of any other war this century.
Last week, the world commemorated the signing of the Charter of the United Nations seventy-nine years ago. The UN was created to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
To live up to this aspiration, all nations must insist on compliance with the UN Charter and international law.
Magwenya said the action taken by South Africa and joined by other states is primarily to stop a genocide in Palestine peacefully, through holding Israel accountable in the institutions set up for this very purpose by the United Nations.
“Israel has been granted unprecedented impunity to breach international law and norms for as long as the UN Charter has been in existence. Israel’s continued shredding of international law has imperilled the institutions of global governance that were established to hold all states accountable.”
“As President Ramaphosa stated in his address to the UN General Assembly this year, ‘South Africa’s action through the ICJ was an attempt to ensure that the same global solidarity that helped end Apartheid in South Africa should be mobilised to end the Apartheid that Palestinians are experiencing, including an end to the genocide of Palestinians,” Magwenya said.
Magwenya said South Africa’s case at the ICJ is a “comprehensive presentation of the overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza.
Government thanked its legal team for their “dedication, skill and commitment.”
South Africa has an elite team of legal minds, including three top senior counsels from South Africa, an international law professor, a British barrister, and numerous junior counsel and researchers.
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