Harare — Israel will go before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague after South Africa requested a court order to stop their attacks in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.
South Africa’s case against Israel says that the deaths, devastation, and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip surpasses the threshold set by the 1948 Genocide Convention, according to international law.
South Africa supported the Palestinians’ quest for independence for many years, saying the treatment of Palestinians is comparable to that of South Africa’s black majority during the apartheid era.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela said in a post on X that the country’s attorneys are getting ready for the hearing.
“Just to be clear. The ICJ has scheduled a hearing of the case that South Africa has triggered. This is set down for 11-12 January 2024 at the Hague. Our lawyers are currently preparing for this,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) called on the 33 African states that are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to lobby for a full ICC investigation into reports of grave human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza.
Attacks by Israel’s army killed more than 17,000 Palestinians since October 7, when Hamas fighters broke through the border fence and entered Israel, killing 1,200 people and took 200 hostage.