South Africa asks the International Court of Justice to issue a new order against Israel. In a motion filed Wednesday evening, Pretoria warns of famine in Gaza and asks judges to order an end to the fighting. South Africa accuses Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
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With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
Starve to death Gaza is no longer a risk, it is a reality, this is what South Africa essentially writes in its application to the Court. Pretoria accuses Israel to deliberately starve the Palestinians. Pretoria still accuses the Israeli authorities of using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations. And the massacre at the end of February, in which 118 Palestinians died while trying to access trucks carrying humanitarian aid. On January 26, without ruling on the merits, the Court nevertheless issued a first emergency order asking the Jewish State in particular to allow Gazans access to humanitarian aid.
This is the second time that Pretoria has requested additional measures from the UN’s highest court, which sits in The Hague, after its first request in February was rejected.
South Africa is therefore asking the judges to urgently order both Israel and Hamas to end the fighting and release the hostages and prisoners. Pretoria also calls on judges to order Israel to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip and ensure Gazans’ access to humanitarian aid.
And above all, South Africa is asking the judges to recall that all member states of the Genocide Convention must refrain from any armed action, or any support. In other words, South Africa is asking judges to order an arms embargo. In another case, filed last week, Nicaragua asked judges to order Germany to suspend its arms exports to Israel.
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