South Africa requests UN court to urgently act to prevent ‘famine, genocide’ in Gaza

By Hassan Isilow

South Africa on Thursday said it approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ), requesting it to act urgently to prevent a “catastrophic famine” and “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the South African presidency says his country wants the top UN court to further strengthen the provisional measures it ordered against Israel on Jan. 26 or modify them to ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over a million children.

“The urgent application has been necessitated by widespread starvation in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of at least 15 children in the past week alone, with the actual numbers believed to be much higher,” the statement said.

It added: “United Nations experts warn that the number of deaths will increase exponentially unless military activities are halted and the blockade is lifted.”

South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel before the ICJ in late December and asked it to grant emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza.

The court on Jan. 26 ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.

It also ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

- Israel not complying with orders

South Africa says Israel has not complied with the court’s binding order, and has instead escalated its genocidal acts against the Palestinian people.

“On 15 February 2024, following a letter to the Court from South Africa in response to Israel’s threatened assault on Rafah, the Court reminded Israel that ‘the perilous situation [in Rafah] demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated’ by it on 26 January 2024, which included Israel’s obligation to ensure ‘the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip’,” the statement said.

Pretoria, it added, now wants the top UN court to make modifications to several provisional measures including that all participants in the conflict ensure that all fighting and hostilities come to an immediate halt and that all hostages and detainees are released immediately.

South Africa also wants Israel to be ordered to take “immediate and effective” measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address famine and starvation and the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza, by immediately suspending its military operations and lifting its blockade of Gaza, among other measures.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive, now in its 152th day, on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,700 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.