Bangladesh supports South Africa in presenting war crimes case against Israel to ICJ

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh on Sunday backed South Africa in presenting a war crimes case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide by continuously bombing the Gaza Strip for the past 100 days.

Bangladesh said it supports South Africa’s call, as a State Party to the Genocide Convention, for provisional measures to halt all military operations in Gaza and allow safe, adequate, and unhindered humanitarian aid into all areas of the besieged enclave.

“In this context, Bangladesh welcomes the opportunity to file a declaration of intervention in the proceedings in due course,” said a Foreign Ministry statement.

Bangladesh also reiterated its previous calls for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestine and for a long-term and permanent solution that includes the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On Dec. 29, South Africa filed the case before the ICJ in The Hague, submitting photo evidence captured by the Turkish global news agency Anadolu that clearly shows Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The public hearings in the case against Israel began on Thursday.

As Israel's atrocities in Gaza reach the grim 100-day mark, at least 23,968 Palestinians have been killed and 60,582 others have been injured in Gaza since Israel launched an offensive on Oct. 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday.

On the 100th day, Israeli forces carried out "11 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 125 casualties and 265 injuries over the past 24 hours," it said in a statement, adding that the vast majority of those killed are women and children.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

Authorities claim the attacks by Hamas have killed around 1,200 Israelis.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.