South Africa seeks new emergency measures due to Israel’s latest offensive against the southern city of Gaza.
South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war in Gaza, the United Nations top court said.
In the ongoing case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of acts of genocide against the Palestinians, the ICJ ordered in January that Israel refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure that its troops do not commit genocidal acts against Palestinians.
Israel has repeatedly stated that it is acting in accordance with international law in Gaza, and has dismissed the case of genocide in South Africa as baseless and accused Pretoria of acting as “the legal arm of Hamas”.
In documents published on Friday, South Africa seeks additional emergency measures in light of continued military action in Rafah, which it calls the “last refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza.
The city in southern Gaza is filled with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in appalling conditions and there have been warnings that an Israeli ground offensive would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe for civilians.
South Africa’s application states that Israel’s operation against Rafah poses an “extreme risk” to “the humanitarian supply and basic services to Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group,” the UN court said. said in a statement.
“Those who have survived thus far now face imminent death and a Court order is needed to ensure their survival,” the South African document states.
South Africa also asked the court to order Israel to allow unimpeded access to Gaza for UN officials, organizations providing humanitarian aid and journalists and investigators.
PRESS RELEASE: South Africa makes an urgent request for the appointment of additional provisional measures and the modification of previous provisional measures indicated by the #ICJ inside the case #South Africa v. #Israel pic.twitter.com/minw5GvpMK
-CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) May 10, 2024
Israel’s 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning, a day after the Palestinian group that governs Gaza said it accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. Meanwhile, Israel insisted that the proposal did not meet its main demands.
Tanks and planes attacked several areas and at least four houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding several others, according to Palestinian health officials.
Around 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in recent days, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The UN also noted that the seizure of the Rafah border crossing by the Israeli army has prevented aid from entering Gaza for the past three days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Rafah offensive was necessary to defeat Hamas.
At least 34,943 people have been killed and 78,572 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. Israel’s death toll from Hamas’ October 7 attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
South Africa brought a case against Israel to the ICJ in January, accusing the country of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The UN’s top court ruled that there was a plausible risk of genocide in the enclave and ordered Israel to take a series of provisional measures, including preventing any genocidal acts from occurring.
The court rejected a second South African request for emergency measures filed in March over Israel’s threat to attack Rafah.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, usually rules within a few weeks on requests for emergency measures. It will likely be years before the court rules on the merits of the case. Although the ICJ’s decisions are binding and without appeal, the court has no way of enforcing them.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
