South Africa told judges at the World Court in the Hague on Thursday that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and pleaded with the court to issue an interim order for an immediate halt to Israel’s military actions.
Ahead of the proceedings at the UN court, hundreds of pro-Israeli protesters marched close to the courthouse with banners saying “Bring them home,” referring to the hostages still held by Hamas. Among the crowds, people were holding Israeli and Dutch flags.
Outside the court, others were protesting and waving the Palestinian flag in support of South Africa’s move.
“Israel has a genocidal intent against the Palestinians in Gaza,” Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, advocate of the High Court of South Africa, told the court.
“That is evident from the way in which this military attack is being conducted,” he said, adding: “The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state.”
They asked judges to impose binding preliminary orders on Israel, including an immediate halt to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
South Africa’s governing African National Congress party has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Black people to “homelands” before ending in 1994.
South Africa told judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and pleaded with the court to issue an interim order for an immediate halt to Israel’s military actions.
The country’s lawyers immediately sought to broaden the case beyond the narrow confines of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023. The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years,” said South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
Rieaz Shaik, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Canada, told CBC News this week that the country expects a finding on genocide “will take a considerable amount of time.”
“What’s more important is that there will be a declaration on interim measures that we are asking for,” Shaik said, which include a “cessation of hostilities” in Gaza and the provision of humanitarian aid.
Israel in 1951 ratified the Geneva Conventions, the international humanitarian laws that regulate conduct in armed…
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