Gambiaj.com – (THE HAGUE) – South Africa requested emergency measures for a fourth time since launching proceedings at the court late last year, citing “massive, indiscriminate violence and starvation” in Gaza. South Africa told judges at the U.N.’s highest court on Thursday that “most of Gaza has been reduced to rubble” by Israel’s military operation, asking the court to intervene to prevent the “annihilation of the Palestinian people.” 

South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice four times for emergency intervention in Gaza since it initiated proceedings accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in December.

“Israel’s genocide has continued at pace and has reached a new and horrific stage,” Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, said in his opening remarks before The Hague-based court.

In the latest request, South Africa wants the court to order Israel to withdraw from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, ensure access to the Gaza Strip for U.N. officials and journalists, and submit a report to the court about Israel’s conduct.

In the Great Hall of Justice, the audience had clearly chosen a side. Seats behind the South African delegation were full, while the area behind Israel was largely empty.

In January, judges called on Israel to prevent any genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The legally binding order did not go as far as calling on Israel to stop its military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas.

In a second round of emergency measures in March, the court ordered Israel to cooperate with the United Nations in providing food, water and medical care to the 2.3 million people living in the Gaza Strip in light of the “catastrophic situation.”

Israel said during hearings earlier this year the country’s military is doing everything it can to minimize civilian deaths as it tries to root out Hamas. It strongly denies that it is committing genocide against Palestinians and says it has the right to self-defense.

The South African legal team argued that the military operation has far exceeded any justification. “No right of self-defense can ever extend to a right to inflict massive, indiscriminate violence and starvation collectively on an entire people,” Vaughan Lowe, one of the lawyers for South Africa, told the 15-judge panel.

At the beginning of May, Israel sent tanks into Rafah and took control of a border crossing with Egypt. It now controls every entry and exit point from the Gaza Strip.

South Africa argued this is the last step in the destruction of Gaza. “It has become increasingly clear that Israel’s actions in Rafah are part of the end game, in which Gaza is utterly destroyed as an area capable of human habitation,” Lowe said.

Madonsela said his country felt it had to make yet another request for provisional measures. “South Africa is yet again compelled to return to this court in recognition of its obligations under the Genocide Convention due to the continuing annihilation of the Palestinian people, with over 35,000 now killed and most of Gaza reduced to rubble,” he said.

Any party to the post-WWII treaty can initiate a case against another signatory under the convention. The West African country of Gambia launched a complaint against Myanmar in 2020, claiming the government was committing genocide against the Rohingya people. Those proceedings are still ongoing.

Hearings will continue on Friday, when Israel will address the court.

courthousenews.com