South Africa on Thursday urged judges at the United Nations’ top court to order Israel to stop its ground offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying Israel had put Palestinian lives there at imminent risk of destruction.
The hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague comes after South Africa called last week for further restrictions on Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. In documents released by the court, South Africa cited “irreparable damage” caused by Israel’s incursion into Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, where half of the Gaza Strip’s population has sought refuge.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Israel’s actions in Rafah are part of an end game that involves the complete destruction of Gaza as a habitable territory for humans,” British lawyer Vaughan Lowe told the court. “This is the final step in the destruction of Gaza and the people of Palestine.”
Mr Lowe was part of the South African legal team that presented the case over two hours on Thursday.
The South African dossier said the rights of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were under threat and that Israel’s control of Rafah and Kerem Shalom, the two main border crossings in southern Gaza, was limiting the flow of humanitarian goods into the Strip. He added that hospital capacity has been put at extreme risk. It works there.
John Dugard, another member of the South African team, told the court: “It is difficult to imagine that this situation could get any worse, but unfortunately it has.”
Several members of the team addressed the court to support their claims, often citing warnings from senior UN officials that an attack on Rafah would worsen the situation for civilians and exacerbate the hunger crisis in the region.
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a member of the South African legal team, cited statements from senior Israeli officials that he said showed the intent to destroy not only the country’s enemy, Hamas, but all of Gaza.
The legal team also asked the court to order Israel to provide easier access to Gaza for aid workers, investigators, fact-finding missions and journalists.
One of the lawyers, Adila Hassim, showed the court photos of damaged buildings in Khan Younis, a city north of Rafah, to give a full picture of the destruction caused by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Ms. Hashim appeared on the verge of tears as she described the deaths of children during military operations.
Israel strongly denies South Africa’s claims, repeating that it has placed no limits on the amount of aid entering the isolated region and has taken steps to increase the amount of food and other goods, including recently opening two crossing points in the north. I did. let’s go.
Israel also said the attack on eastern Rafah was a “precision operation” targeting only members of Hamas, the terrorist group that led the October 7 attack. Israeli authorities say the attack killed more than 1,200 Israelis and killed about 250 others.
Israel is scheduled to defend itself in court on Friday. Gilad Noam, Israel’s deputy attorney general for international law, is among the officials in the Israeli delegation expected to address the court. It is unclear when the court will rule, but given that South Africa said on Thursday that the petition was urgent because of the ongoing attack on Rafa, it seems likely that a decision will be made soon.
The hearing is part of South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide last December. In late January, the court ordered Israel to do more to prevent acts of genocide, but did not call for a ceasefire. The main case, which deals with genocide charges, is not expected to begin until next year.
(Established under the 1945 United Nations founding charter, the court was created to resolve disputes between member states. Israel has no means of enforcing its own orders, but events in South Africa have served to put international pressure on Israel to step up its campaign in the Gaza Strip. I did
Marlis Simmons and jonathan lace contributed to the report.
