South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice to order additional emergency measures against Israel over its attacks on Rafah and genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN court said on Friday.
In the ongoing case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of committing acts of genocide against the Palestinians, the court, in January, ordered Israel to refrain from any actions that could fall under the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide and to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide against the Palestinians.
Colombia supported the complaint filed by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice, and about a month ago, the Court of Justice said that Colombia had asked it to allow it to intervene in the South African case.
In its request, Colombia called on the court to guarantee “the safety and existence of the Palestinian people”.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on May 1 that Turkey decided to join South Africa in the case it filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
In January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would submit documents for the case to the International Court of Justice.
The International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, allows states to intervene, express their opinions, and prosecute. Several countries have said they will also seek to intervene in the case, but so far only Colombia and Nicaragua have made the request publicly.
Last January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to refrain from any actions that might fall under the scope of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, after South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide crimes in the Strip.
Israel denies committing acts of genocide in Gaza or violating humanitarian law there. Israel and its Western allies described the accusation as baseless.
It may take years for a final ruling to be issued in the South African case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, according to Reuters. Although the decisions of the International Court of Justice are binding, it does not have a mechanism to implement them, according to Agence France-Presse.
Israeli military invaded the Gaza Strip, following the attack by the Hamas movement on Israel on October 7.
During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 130 of whom are still hostage in Gaza, according to official Israeli estimates.
In response to the attack, Israel pledged to “eliminate Hamas”, and has since carried out a bombing campaign followed by ground aggression since October 27, resulting in the killing of about 35,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women.
Israeli invasion caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which had a population of 2.4 million people, and led to famine in its north, according to the World Food Program.
