Starving to death in Gaza is no longer a "risk" but a reality, South Africa wrote in a new motion filed on March 6 with the judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A month and a half after the UN's highest judicial body issued its first order on the ongoing war in the Palestinian enclave, Pretoria is asking it to take additional measures against Israel, which it accuses of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
South Africa describes a "terrifying" and "unspeakable" situation in Gaza, and claims that "at least 15 Palestinian children – including babies – in Gaza have already died of starvation in the past week alone, with the actual numbers believed to be much higher." These deaths were "man-made, predictable, and entirely preventable," added Pretoria's lawyers.
To this end, South Africa is asking the ICJ to act urgently, without even convening new hearings, denouncing Israel's "contempt" for their January 26 order. At that time, the judges had referred to a "plausible" risk of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and ordered Israel to refrain from genocidal acts and to punish any incitement to genocide. The South African request to suspend Israeli military operations was rejected, but the Hague judges ordered Israel to guarantee access to humanitarian aid for Gazans.
On February 26, as requested by the ICJ, the Israeli government submitted a report to the Court, attesting to its purported efforts to comply with the January 26 order. This confidential document was then forwarded to South Africa. In the following month, 4,548 Palestinians were killed according to Pretoria, and the difficulties faced by humanitarian organizations in getting aid into Gaza have only worsened.
Since the case was referred to the Court at the end of December 2023, Israel has rejected the procedure, arguing that its offensive in Gaza is an act of self-defense, in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.
This time, as famine threatens, Pretoria is asking the judges to order both sides, Israel and Hamas, to cease hostilities and release Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. South Africa is also asking the judges to order the 153 States parties to the Genocide Convention to "refrain from any action, and in particular any armed action or support there, which might prejudice the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide."
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