Johannesburg – South Africa has filed an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to seek an urgent order for the protection of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The urgent request comes in the wake of an intensifying Israeli military assault on Rafah.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that at least 18 people, including nine children some of whom were just two years old, were killed after Israel struck residential areas in Rafah overnight into Tuesday.
South Africa on Friday requested urgent intervention by the ICJ to stop Israel from grave and irreparable violations of the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention.
In a statement issued Saturday, (11 May 2024), the Presidency said: “South Africa contends that the attack on Rafah further worsens the prevailing situation and causes irreparable harm to the rights of Palestinians in Gaza and that the situation has changed significantly since the Court’s Order of 28 March 2024.”
Israel insists its assault on Rafah was the last phase of eradicating Hamas, which triggered the wrath of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the brazen October 7 attacks that left over 1 100 Israelis dead and hundreds of others taken hostage.
So far about 35 000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in reprisal attacks by Israel on Gaza. More than twice as many Palestinians have been injured or maimed in the relentless attacks.
Rafah is home to some 1.5 million Palestinians, but thousands have begun evacuating in fear of escalating assaults in the area by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Rafah is the last refuge in Gaza for those displaced by Israeli action, and the last viable centre for public administration and the provision of basic public services, including medical care.
“Since the start of the military action in Rafah, Israel has seized control of both the Rafah and the Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) crossings, effectively controlling all movement in and out of Gaza and cutting off all critical humanitarian and medical supplies, goods and fuel,” the statement said.
“Israel has further prevented medical evacuations and has treated evacuation zones as extermination zones as evidenced by the destruction of hospitals in Gaza and discovery of mass graves in other major healthcare facilities in the Strip.
“Therefore, South Africa is calling for urgent interventions and investigations of all actions that continue to cause irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) for targeted killings.”
The statement said South Africa requested that the ICJ indicate the following provisional measures:
1. The State of Israel shall immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive in the Rafah Governorate.
2. The State of Israel shall immediately take all effective measures to ensure and facilitate the unimpeded access to Gaza of United Nations and other officials engaged in the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance to the population of Gaza, as well as fact-finding missions, internationally mandated bodies or officials, investigators, and journalists, in order to assess and record conditions on the ground in Gaza and enable the effective preservation and retention of evidence, and shall ensure that its military does not act to prevent such access, provision, preservation or retention.
3. The State of Israel shall submit an open report to the Court:
- (a) on all measures taken to give effect to these provisional measures within one week as from the date of this Order; and
- (b) on all measures taken to give effect to all previous provisional measures indicated by the Court within one month as from the date of this Order.
South Africa further requested that the ICJ reaffirm and seek urgent compliance by Israel with the provisional measures ordered by the Court on 26 January and 28 March 2024.
On Friday, South Africa petitioned the Court to urgently reaffirm the application to the Rafah and Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) crossings of provisional measure 4 of its 26 January 2024 Order and provisional measures 2(a) and (b) of its 28 March 2024 Order.
“These measures will require the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the two crossings to allow for the unimpeded movement of medical personnel, including the UN and other humanitarian personnel and medical evacuees, as well as goods and services that are vital to addressing the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza,” the statement said.
The Presidency said South Africa remains “firmly of the view” that the necessary condition for the effective implementation of the Court’s provisional measures is a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
“We call on the international community, including the allies of the State of Israel, not to turn a blind eye to the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” said SA President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The gross human rights violations perpetuated by Israel have scaled to incomprehensible levels of cruelty, hate, and extreme violent oppression.
“The world must do more to end the persecution of Palestinians, including that of many innocent women and children.”
President Ramaphosa said South Africa was “deeply heartened” by the protest actions of university students in the United States and other parts of the world.
“We are also greatly encouraged by the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly draft resolution that recommends to the Security Council to reconsider favourably the application by the State of Palestine for full membership of the United Nations,” said President Ramaphosa.
“The support to this resolution shown by 143 countries is a further demonstration that the world is listening to the cries of the Palestinians.”
Meanwhile, talks on the much-anticipated ceasefire, which Hamas had agreed to, appear to have stalled.
