Israel will face the “genocide” charge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for its brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, as a horrible nightmare of bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave is unfolding due to the occupying regime’s incessant bombardment.
Late last month, South Africa, in an 84-page suit filed against Israel at the top UN court on December 29, asked the top court to urgently declare that the Tel Aviv regime has breached its responsibilities under international law since October 7, when it launched an ongoing war on the densely-populated coastal sliver.
Pretoria detailed evidence of brutality being perpetrated in Gaza, making South Africa the first country to file a lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ, appealing to the court to force the regime to “immediately suspend” its war on Gaza.
It says Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 after the Holocaust.
This is while Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a day earlier, dismissed the charges as “atrocious” and “preposterous.”
In its submission to the ICJ, South Africa charged that Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza is “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
South Africa will present its arguments on Thursday, while Israel will counter on Friday. As it is an urgent procedure, the top UN court could rule in a matter of weeks.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 23,210 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 59,167 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
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