Campaign in support of South Africa's genocide case against Israel garners more than 320,000 signatures

By Tufan Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - A campaign in support of South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has gathered thousands of signatures Wednesday.

The initiative launched from the UK on the change.org website saw participation from more than 320,000 users worldwide as of 7 p.m. Turkish local time.

The campaign expressed solidarity with South Africa's case and hoped it would end the suffering of Gazans.

The UN General Assembly asked last month for an opinion from the ICJ on the legal status and consequences arising from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.

South Africa filed the lawsuit Dec. 29, claiming that Israel violated the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide with its actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, requesting an injunction.

Hearings in the case are set to take place at The Hague from Thursday.

Türkiye, Bolivia and Malaysia have already signaled support for the case.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s second-largest multi-national bloc, also welcomed the lawsuit filed by South Africa.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, killing at least 23,210 Palestinians, and injuring 59,167 others, mostly women and children, according to health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

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 medicine.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz