THE South Africa appealed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing that the Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of the Crime of Genocide is violated with Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is the UN body that resolves disputes between states. Its decisions are not subject to appeal, but it also has no means to enforce their implementation.

According to the statement issued by the UN, South Africa accuses Israel of engaging in “acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

In its complaint, South Africa states that “Israel’s acts and omissions assume a genocidal character, since they are accompanied by the specific intent (…) to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza, as part of the wider national, racial and ethnic group of Palestinians”. says the announcement of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

“By its conduct – through its organs and agents and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence – towards the Palestinians of Gaza, Israel is neglecting its obligations shouldered by the Convention against Genocide,” according to the South African government.

The complaint was filed today, Friday, on the 84th day of the war that began after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7. Around 1,140 people were killed then, most of them civilians, while 250 were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip where 129 of them are still being held today.

In retaliation, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and pounding the Israeli enclave that the group has controlled since 2007. According to Hamas’ health ministry, at least 21,507 people have been killed since October 7 in the Gaza Strip, and most of them were women and children. Of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents, 85% were forced to flee their homes and seek safe haven in the south.

The government of Israel immediately rejected South Africa’s appeal to the ICC, calling it an unfounded blood libelwithout any legal value and asserting that it is abiding by international law in the war with Hamas in Gaza.

“South Africa is cooperating with a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel. The people of Gaza are not enemies of Israel, which is making an effort to limit harm to civilians,” the Foreign Ministry added in the statement it issued.