South Africa called for an emergency suspension of the Israeli offensive, stating that Israel conducted genocide in Gaza.
Einar Tangen, a senior fellow at the Beijing-based think tank Taihe Institute, suggests South Africa has a strong case with detailed quotations from senior Israeli officials dehumanizing Palestinians.
During the court hours, Pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the court demanded an end to Israel's military operations as the ongoing bombardment in Gaza claims more than 100 lives and injures nearly 200.
Pretoria's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, acknowledged Israel's actions as part of a continuum of illegal acts against Palestinians since 1948.
Even as the hearing was being conducted, the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces killed more than 100 Palestinians and injured nearly 200 over the latest 24-hour reporting period, the Gaza Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The Friday hearing began with a reading of South Africa’s case against Israel and the demand that Israel should immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza as South Africa reminded the court that more than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
South Africa's Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, asserted that Israel's response to attacks by Hamas crossed a line and calls for the court to prevent genocide in Gaza by issuing an injunction. Lamola, said Israel’s response to the attacks by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel “crossed a line”.
“No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious, even an attack involving atrocity crimes, can provide justification for or defence to breaches to the [1948 Genocide] Convention whether it’s a matter of law or morality,” he said.
The United Nations Secretary-General and its Chiefs described the situation in Gaza variously as “a crisis of humanity”, a “living hell”, a “blood bath”, a situation of “utter, deepening [and unmatched] horror”, where “an entire population” is “besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival”, “on a massive scale”.
After Israeli team concluded its oral arguments, the ICJ president Joan Donoghue ended Friday’s proceedings. This brings to an end the two-day hearing into South Africa case of genocide against Israel in its war on Gaza.