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Genocide in Gaza: S. Africa hauls Israel before ICJ
View(s):South Africa on Friday filed action before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, requesting it to declare on an urgent basis if Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of and Punishment of Genocide (Genocide Convention) over its continuing military attacks in the Gaza Strip and “ongoing massacres” against the Palestinians.
In a statement issued by its Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the South African government expressed its concerns over reports that crimes against humanity and war crimes are being committed by Israel.
Sometime in mid-November, South Africa joined Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti in filing papers before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the situation in the Palestinian territories. Chief ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed that these five countries have complained against Israel to the ICC.
In Colombo, South Africa’s High Commissioner Sandile Edwin Schalk said the ICC had responded to his government, “indicating that they are investigating all those atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank”. “They have not provided or named any suspects, but they acknowledged receipt of our submission and indicated to us that they are currently investigating.” Israel is not a member state of the ICC.
With regards to South Africa’s submission to the ICJ, Mr. Schalk said they would “just wait and see who else will come on board”.
“South Africa took the initiative as a country because we understand very well the kind of pain the Palestinians are going through,” he said. “We are very, very concerned about the plight of civilians that are caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. And their indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of the inhabitants.”
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