Evidence shows Israel using hunger as weapon in Gaza, says South Africa on genocide case

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) — South Africa said Tuesday that the evidence it provided in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) shows how Tel Aviv is using starvation as weapon of war, aiming to depopulate Gaza through mass killings and forced displacements.

‘‘The evidence demonstrates unequivocally that Israel’s genocidal acts are of special intent to commit genocide in the Gaza strip. Its failure to prevent genocide and incitement to genocide and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide,’’ Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told reporters in the capital Pretoria.

Lamola highlighted that all countries have the responsibility to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.

A detailed memorial presented by South Africa to the ICJ on Oct. 28 contains evidence that shows how Israel continues to violate the 1948 Genocide Convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza by physically killing them and depriving them of access to humanitarian assistance.

These are causing conditions of life aimed at the physical destruction of Palestinians, it further suggests. South Africa also notes that Israel is ignoring and defying several provisional measures ordered by the ICJ.

Lamola said South Africa condemns the spread of disinformation concerning the genocide case it filed against Israel, underlining that such efforts aim to draw public attention away from the ongoing genocide unfolding in plain sight in Gaza.

He said post-apartheid South Africa has consistently advocated for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including for Israel to end its unlawful occupation which seeks to deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination.

‘‘Our principled approach is firmly rooted in our own experience of colonialism and apartheid, the international law and UN charters whose core purpose is to serve succeeding generations from the scourge of war,’’ he said.

Lamola said his country has repeatedly carried the Palestinian cause to multilateral platforms, amplifying the struggle to the international stage.

South Africa filed the genocide case against Israel at the tribunal based in The Hague in late 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Several countries, including Türkiye, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Mexico, Libya, and Colombia, have joined the case, which began public hearings in January.

The top court in May ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave, where the casualty count has crossed 44,000.