Pakistan backs South Africa’s case against Israel at International Court of Justice

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistan has extended its support to South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Usman Jadadoon, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, welcomed the South African initiative to bring Israel's "transgressions" under the Genocide Convention to ICJ.

"Israel’s war in Gaza is a brutal, veritable genocide," said Jadadoon.

He said this "genocidal war" must be stopped.

"Pakistan also looks forward to the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," he added.

Last month, the UN General Assembly asked 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 on 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, has also welcomed the lawsuit filed by South Africa.

It called on the ICJ “to respond expeditiously and take urgent measures to stop this mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli defense forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

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 local 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.