The South African government has lodged an “urgent request” asking the United Nation’s top court to determine whether Israeli military operations in the southern Gazan city of Rafah run afoul of provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Jan. 26 that South Africa had asserted a plausible case that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip could be seen as genocide. The Netherlands-based international panel declined South Africa’s initial request to order a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Still, it ruled overwhelmingly supportive of several measures requiring Israel to avoid harming Palestinian civilians as the court continues to consider the matter.
The Israeli military has continued its operations in the Gaza Strip, pushing southward across the confined Palestinian territory. Israeli forces have now reached the city of Rafah, which runs along the border with Egypt.
Throughout their months of operations in Gaza, Israeli military officials have ordered civilians to move to the south of the territory to avoid being caught in the crossfire as it works to eliminate Hamas, a Palestinian faction designated by Israel and various other nations as a terrorist organization. Now, as the Israeli forces arrive on the outskirts of Rafah, questions remain as to where civilians fleeing the fighting can go next.
South Africa Seeks ICJ Input
Last week, the Israeli Prime Minister said four Hamas battalions remain active in Rafah. He said he’d ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to submit a “combined plan” to evacuate Rafah’s civilian population and destroy the Hamas battalions.
“The South African Government has made an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether the decision announced by Israel to extend its military operations in Rafah, which is the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza, requires that the court uses its power to prevent further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza,” the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said Tuesday.
While a potential Israeli ground assault in Rafah has yet to begin, Israeli airstrikes reportedly began striking the city last week.
Israeli forces conducted a hostage rescue operation within Rafah on Monday, retrieving two Israeli citizens captured by Hamas in October 2023. IDF forces carried out airstrikes coinciding with the rescue mission, reportedly killing dozens, including women and children.
“The 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,” the statement from South Africa’s DIRCO continued. “This would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court’s Order of 26 January 2024.”
The South African government department said it trusts the UN court to act with “necessary urgency” in light of the daily death toll in Gaza.
The exact death toll from the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip remains difficult to independently verify.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which operates under the umbrella of Hamas’ political control of the Gaza Strip, has said at least 28,473 people have been killed in the territory since the start of the conflict. The Gaza Health Ministry does not clearly distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death toll. The organization has said its casualty counts include 12,300 Palestinian children and teens and 8,400 women.
The ICJ didn’t immediately confirm receipt of the new request. If it decides to hold another hearing on the request for further provisional measures, it would likely rule within weeks.
The Israeli government has not responded directly to the South African government’s latest request for action from the ICJ.
UN Facing Growing Israeli Scrutiny
Mr. Netanyahu denounced South Africa’s earlier genocide arguments and said the fact that the ICJ even considered them is a “mark of shame that will not be erased for generations.” In comments following the court’s interim decision last month, Mr. Netanyahu said, “We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country and defend our people.”
The Israeli government has separately accused members of another UN body—the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)—of supporting Hamas.
In January, the Israeli government shared allegations that as many as 190 UNRWA had shown support for Hamas, and as many as 12 of the U.N. agency’s employees participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
This week, Israeli forces announced they had uncovered a tunnel running under UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, on the northern end of the Gaza Strip. IDF and Israeli intelligence officials assessed the tunnel and said it served as a command center for Hamas.
Following the tunnel’s discovery, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the UN organization had not previously been aware of the tunnel. He said UNRWA employees had officially abandoned Gaza City on Oct. 12, just days into the conflict, and could not account for what has transpired there since.
“In the past, whenever [a] suspicious cavity was found close to or under UNRWA premises, protest letters were promptly filed to parties to the conflict, including both the de facto authorities in Gaza [Hamas] and the Israeli authorities,” Mr. Lazzarini added.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
