At least 41 020 people have been killed and 94 925 wounded in the conflict so far. Picture: Said Khatib / AFP
As Israel continues its attack in Gaza, the South African government said it will continue with its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel is accused of committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave.
The decision comes amid reports that Israeli diplomats are being instructed to lobby members of the US Congress to pressure South Africa into dropping the case.
The Israeli diplomats were instructed to ask members of Congress to issue public statements condemning South Africa’s actions against Israel and threaten that it could lead to suspending US trade relations with South Africa.
However, that’s unlikely to happen because the US wants to maintain its relationship with South Africa in order to counter the influence of Russia and China, Axios reported.
South African Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the country will be filing its memorial to the ICJ in October.
“South Africa intends to provide facts and evidence to prove that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Palestine. This case will continue until the court makes a finding. While the case is in progress, we hope that Israel will abide by the court’s provisional orders issued to date.
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“The case represents a growing global effort towards ensuring peace in the Middle-East. Several countries, namely, Nicaragua, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia have all joined the South African case against Israel,” Magwenya said.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa, during a question in the National Assembly, said he was confident that South Africa will prove that Israel is committing genocide against the people of Palestine.
In January, the ICJ determined that genocidal attacks may be occurring in Gaza and ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians in the region.
However, Israel refused to comply with the court’s order, and its attacks on Gaza continued, causing the civilian death toll and destruction of infrastructure to rise.
In March, the ICJ again concurred with South Africa’s assertion that the situation in Gaza has deteriorated significantly since the initial order on 26 January, which Israel has failed to comply with.
The UN’s top court granted South Africa’s urgent request to enforce additional emergency measures against Israel, accusing it of violating existing orders and causing irreparable harm to the rights invoked by Pretoria under the 1948 Genocide Convention concerning the ongoing siege of Gaza. Despite this, Israel continued.
In May, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately cease its attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. This decision marked the third time this year that the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders aimed at curbing the death toll and alleviating humanitarian suffering in Gaza.
Ramaphosa said South Africa was in the process of preparing almost a 500 page case which will be presented to the court, where it will be taking steps to prove that what South Africa had approached the court on last year is the reality that Palestinians are living under.
“We will be submitting not only video proof, photographic proof, but also great witness to our assertion that a genocide is unfolding and underway in Gaza, and all this, as the honourable member would know, is being done to not only support the people of Palestine, but to ensure that we live up to our own values and principles of respect for human rights and for justice.”
At least 41 020 people have been killed and 94 925 wounded in the conflict so far. An estimated 1 139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.
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