South Africa launched case in opposition to Israel, saying the magnitude of demise and destruction in Gaza meets the brink of the 1948 Genocide Conference.
Israel will seem earlier than the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to contest South Africa’s accusation that it’s committing genocide in opposition to Palestinians in its warfare with Hamas, an Israeli authorities spokesman says.
South Africa launched the case against Israel on Friday, saying the magnitude of demise, destruction and the extent of the humanitarian disaster within the Gaza Strip meets the brink of the 1948 Genocide Conference below worldwide regulation.
South Africa additionally requested the court docket to order Israel to cease its assaults in Gaza.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused South Africa of “giving political and authorized cowl” to the October 7 Hamas assaults on Israel, which triggered the three-month-long warfare.
“The state of Israel will seem earlier than the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice at The Hague to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” Eylon Levy stated.
“We guarantee South Africa’s leaders, historical past will decide you, and it’ll decide you with out mercy,” Levy added.
The spokesperson stated Hamas was liable for the warfare it began and was “waging from inside and beneath hospitals, faculties, mosques, houses and UN services”.
For many years, South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood. It has likened the remedy of Palestinians to these of the Black majority in South Africa through the apartheid period, a comparability that Israel vehemently denies.
Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Division of Worldwide Relations and Cooperation, stated in a put up on X that legal professionals representing South Africa had been getting ready for the listening to scheduled for January 11 and 12.
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The announcement comes as fierce preventing continues in southern Gaza with Israeli forces bombarding the town of Khan Younis from the air and floor.
The Palestinian Purple Crescent Society stated on Tuesday that Israeli forces hit its headquarters in Khan Younis, leading to a number of deaths and accidents among the many displaced individuals who had been sheltering there.
The Palestinian Ministry of Well being in Gaza stated on Tuesday that greater than 200 folks had been killed in 24 hours, taking the demise toll from the Israeli assault on Gaza to greater than 22,000.