South Africa has filed an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to intervene in the ongoing Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and widespread destruction.
The request, submitted on Wednesday, asks the ICJ to order Israel to immediately cease its military operations in Gaza, withdraw its troops and lift the blockade that has been imposed since 2007. It also urges the ICJ to declare that Israel’s actions constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to hold Israel accountable for reparations to the Palestinian people.
South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, said that her country was acting on behalf of the African Union, which has expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian cause and its condemnation of Israel’s aggression. She said that South Africa was deeply concerned about the escalating violence and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and that the ICJ was the last resort to protect the rights and dignity of the Palestinians.
“The situation in Gaza is intolerable and unacceptable. We cannot stand by and watch as innocent civilians, especially children, are killed, injured and displaced by a brutal occupation force. We call on the ICJ to act swiftly and decisively to end this injustice and to uphold the rule of law,” Pandor said in a statement.
Israel has not yet responded to the request, but it has previously rejected the jurisdiction of the ICJ over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, claiming that it is a political issue that should be resolved through negotiations. Israel has also defended its ground invasion of Gaza, which began on February 10, as a necessary response to the rocket attacks launched by the militant group Hamas, which controls the enclave.
According to the latest figures from the United Nations, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 1,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and injured more than 6,000. More than 200,000 people have been displaced and are sheltering in UN-run schools and other facilities. The UN has also reported severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel in Gaza, and warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
The ICJ, based in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and the highest court in the world for settling disputes between states. It can issue binding judgments and provisional measures, but it has no enforcement mechanism and relies on the cooperation of the parties involved. The ICJ has previously dealt with cases related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as the 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the Israeli wall in the occupied West Bank, which found that the wall violated international law and should be dismantled.
