South Africa appeals to ICJ for further measures against Israel over reports of ‘widespread starvation’ in Gaza

South Africa appeals to the International Court of Justice for additional measures to be implemented against Israel in its war with the Hamas terror organization in Gaza, doing so in light of what it says are “new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza.”

In the application to the World Court, South Africa writes that the “Republic of South Africa is compelled to return to the Court in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation — brought about by the continuous egregious breaches of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the State of Israel.”

It requests that either additional provisional measures be enacted against Israel or that existing measures be modified “in order urgently to ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over a million children.”

In January, the UN’s top court ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide. Israel and its Western allies rejected the allegation as baseless.

The key demands made by the court on January 26 were for Israel to “prevent and punish” incitement to genocide, and “enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” to Gaza to alleviate civilian suffering in the territory.

Israel says it does all it can to spare civilians and is only targeting Hamas terrorists. It says Hamas’s tactic of embedding in civilian areas and institutions makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.