A Palestinian woman walks in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
The International Court of Justice in the Hague will hear South Africa’s genocide case against Israel next Thursday. South Africa wants the court, an organ of the UN that settles disputes between countries, to declare that Israel was committing genocide against the people of Gaza since 7 October. It wants the court to rule that Israel must stop the killing, targeting and displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. The 84-page application filed on 29 December details why South Africa believes Israel is committing genocide. Both Israel and South Africa are party to the genocide convention. Here are eight quotes from South Africa’s case against Israel:
Havoc
“In just over two months, Israel’s military attacks had ‘wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II’.
“The destruction wrought by Israel is so extreme that ‘Gaza is now a different colour from space. It’s a different texture’.”
South Africans need to be in the know if we want to create a prosperous future. News24 has kept the country informed for 25 years, and we’re about to enter a new chapter of fearless journalism. Join our free subscription trial to unlock this story and a world of news aimed to inform, empower, and inspire.