South Africa calls on International Justice to take additional measures against the Israeli occupation

The International Court of Justice in The Hague announced, on Wednesday evening, that it had received an urgent request from South Africa to take additional precautionary measures against Israel in the case it filed against it on charges of “committing crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague announced, on Wednesday evening, that it had received an urgent request from South Africa to take additional precautionary measures against Israel in the case it filed against it on charges of “committing crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

This is the third request submitted by South Africa against Israel to the court, which is the highest judicial body in the United Nations, since Tel Aviv began its devastating war on the Gaza Strip 5 months ago.

The court said, in a statement, that “South Africa submitted an urgent request today (Wednesday) to specify additional precautionary measures and amend the court’s order issued on January 26, 2024, and its subsequent decision issued on February 16, 2024, in the case against Israel.” Relating to the implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

In response to the case filed by South Africa on December 29, 2023, the International Court of Justice, on January 26, 2024, ordered Tel Aviv to take “measures to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” which has been besieged by Israel for 17 years. years. The court also ordered Israel to submit a report within a month of the issuance of the decision regarding the extent to which it has implemented these measures.

As the deadline expired on February 26, the Hebrew Broadcasting Authority claimed that Israel had “begun a preliminary experiment in transferring humanitarian aid from Israel directly to Gaza City,” which was not supported by any evidence on the ground.

On February 16, the court rejected another request submitted by South Africa urging it to take additional measures after Israel announced, at the time, its intention to launch operations in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, which was crowded with displaced people, threatening new human massacres.

The court said in its response at the time that there was no need for new measures and that the measures announced by it on January 26 were sufficient, reiterating its call on Israel to adhere to them.

The Court of Justice explained that South Africa stated in its new request, on Wednesday, that it “is obliged to return to the court in light of the new facts and changes in the situation on the ground in Gaza, in particular the widespread famine situation, caused by the continuing grave violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” Before Israel and its clear continuing violations of the preventive measures referred to by this Court on January 26, 2024.”

As a result of the war and Israeli restrictions, the population of the Gaza Strip, especially the Gaza and North governorates, is on the verge of famine, in light of a severe scarcity of food, water, medicine and fuel supplies, with the displacement of about two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which has been besieged by Israel for 17 years.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration in the Strip had risen from 18 to 20, as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Strip since October 7, 2023.

While the Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that children in Gaza who survived the Israeli bombing “may not survive famine,” calling for allowing more aid to enter the besieged Strip.

In its new application, South Africa asks the court to “specify further preventive measures and/or amend the preventive measures it referred to in its order of 26 January 2024 to urgently ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including That is more than a million children,” according to the same statement.

The statement added that South Africa urged the court to do so without holding a hearing; Given the “utmost necessity of the current situation” in Gaza.

The Israeli war on Gaza left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide.”