CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) \u2014 South Africa\u2019s government said Tuesday it had lodged an \u201curgent request\u201d with the U.N.’s International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel\u2019s military operations\u00a0targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah\u00a0are a breach of provisional orders the court handed down last month in a\u00a0case alleging genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has asked the court to weigh whether Israel\u2019s intention to launch\u00a0a ground offensive\u00a0in Rafah \u2014 where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled in an attempt to escape fighting \u2014 represents a \u201cfurther imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel has already launched a series of strikes on the city on the border with Egypt, which along with other regional neighbors has warned that an offensive on Rafah would bring disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa\u00a0alleges Israel is committing genocide\u00a0against the Palestinian people in its war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip and lodged a case with the world court. The court handed down a preliminary ruling last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among\u00a0its six orders, it said Israel must do all it can to prevent the deaths of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza. South Africa had asked the court to order a cease-fire by Israel, but the justices stopped short of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa is now asking the court to consider further provisional measures against Israel, said Tuesday\u2019s statement released by the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe South African government said it was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the State of Israel, has already led to and will result in further large scale killing, harm and destruction,\u201d the statement said \u201cThis would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court\u2019s Order of 26 January 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa said it was asking the court that the matter be dealt with urgently \u201cin light of the daily death toll in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel strongly denies\u00a0committing genocide in Gaza and says it does all it can to spare civilians and is only targeting Hamas militants. It says Hamas\u2019 tactic of embedding in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel\u2019s assault has wrought destruction in Gaza, with more than 28,000 people killed, over 70% of them women and minors, according to local health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave. Around 80% of the population has been displaced and the U.N. says\u00a0a humanitarian catastrophe\u00a0has pushed more than a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza toward starvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel says it has killed thousands of militants in its aim of crushing Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 were taken hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has previously accused Israel of breaching the world court\u2019s orders. Days after the court\u2019s ruling, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the continued killing of civilians in Gaza showed Israel\u2019s disregard for its orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIsrael believes it has license to do as it wishes,\u201d Pandor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa\u2019s legal efforts are rooted in issues\u00a0central to its identity: Its governing party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel\u2019s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to \u201chomelands\u201d before ending in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel\u2019s military assault in Gaza was described last week as\u00a0\u201cover the top\u201d\u00a0by U.S. President Joe Biden, strong criticism from a close ally. The White House said Biden has also warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not conduct a military operation against Hamas in Rafah without a \u201ccredible and executable\u201d plan to protect civilians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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