What we know about South Africa's petition to the International Court of Justice to stop the Israeli invasion of Rafah
South Africa submitted an urgent request for additional measures in the genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice on 10 May.
The court will rule today.
South Africa accused Israel of using forced evacuation orders in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip “to endanger the lives of civilians and not to protect them.”
South African lawyer, Professor Max du Plessis, condemned the forced eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah and Israel's designation of “humanitarian zones” in other parts of Gaza.
Du Plessis told an International Court of Justice hearing in The Hague on May 16 that these measures “threaten rather than protect civilian lives.”
He added, “The so-called humanitarian areas are not safe. These areas are guarded by the same Israeli forces that attacked the Palestinians.”
He added, “Israel defied this court by besieging, besieging and bombing the crowded city of Rafah.”
“Genocidal intent”: The lawyer said that the “large-scale Israeli bombing” of Rafah and the closure of entry and exit of “vital aid to the already devastated population” indicates “genocidal intent,” noting that the Israeli army’s attack on the city “deliberately inflicted” the conditions necessary to achieve the “physical and biological destruction” of the Palestinians.” .
Hearing before the International Court of Justice: Israel, which has rejected South Africa's claims that it is violating the 1949 Genocide Convention as “baseless,” responded to the allegations by arguing that Deputy Prosecutor for International Law Gilad Noam said that “calling something a genocide over and over again does not mean… Nothing” does not make it genocide, and repeating a lie does not make it true. Naoum said that armed conflict is not synonymous with genocide.