South Africa’s government said Tuesday it had lodged an “urgent request” with the UN’s International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah are a breach of provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case alleging genocide.
South Africa said it asked the court to weigh whether Israel’s strikes on Rafah, and its intention to launch a ground offensive on the city where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter, breaches both the UN Genocide Convention and preliminary orders handed down by the court last month in a case accusing Israel of genocide.
Rafah is on the border with Egypt, which has warned that an offensive on the city now holding more than half of Gaza's population would bring disaster.
South Africa's government said in a statement that Rafah was “the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza." It asked the top UN court to consider using its powers to issue additional preliminary orders telling Israel to halt the deaths and destruction there.
South Africa already alleged Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in its war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza and filed a case with the world court in December. A ruling on the genocide allegation could take years.
South Africa also asked the court to order a cease-fire by Israel, but the justices stopped short of that.
In its new filing, South Africa's 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.”
South Africa said it was asking that the matter be dealt with urgently “in light of the daily death toll in Gaza.”
The court 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 then rule within weeks.
Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza and says it does all it can to spare civilians and is only targeting Hamas militants. It says Hamas' tactic of embedding in civilian areas makes it difficult to avoid civilian casualties.
Israel's assault has wrought destruction in Gaza, with more than 28,000 people killed, over 70 per cent of them women and minors, according to local health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave. Around 80 per cent of the population has been displaced and the UN said a humanitarian catastrophe has pushed more than a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza toward starvation.
Israel says it has killed thousands of militants in its aim of crushing Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
South Africa has accused Israel of ignoring the court's preliminary ruling in the days after it was issued by continuing to kill civilians.
"Israel believes it has license to do as it wishes,” South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said.
South Africa's legal efforts are rooted in issues central to its identity: Its governing party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Black people to “homelands." Apartheid ended in 1994.
Israel's military assault in Gaza was described last week as “over the top” by U.S. President Joe Biden, a strong criticism from a close ally. The White House said Biden has also warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not conduct a military operation against Hamas in Rafah without a “credible and executable” plan to protect civilians.
Canada will lower the number of permanent immigrants it allows into the country by at least 20 per cent from its previous target of 500,000, ۴ý confirmed Wednesday.
The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Liberal party is 'strong and united,' despite efforts from within his caucus to oust him as leader.
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He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
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Turkiye’s air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in apparent retaliation for an attack at a key state-run defence company that killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others.
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The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
The Bank of Canada made a sizable cut to its key lending rate Wednesday from 4.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent as the global economy continues to expand. The half percentage point cut is the fourth rate cut in a row by the central bank as inflation dropped from 2.7 per cent in June to 1.6 per cent in September.
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Turkiye’s air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in apparent retaliation for an attack at a key state-run defence company that killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others.
The Justice Department warned Elon Musk’s America PAC in recent days that his US$1 million sweepstakes to registered voters in swing states may violate federal law, people briefed on the matter told CNN.
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The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be 'fair game' if they go into combat in Ukraine.
A homemade firebomb exploded inside a public high school in Chile on Wednesday, igniting a blaze that injured at least 34 students and one teacher, with several in serious condition, firefighters said.
An Indiana man has been sentenced to life in prison for the 1975 killing of a 17-year-old girl who was found dead in a river after she failed to return home from her job at a church camp.
Canada will lower the number of permanent immigrants it allows into the country by at least 20 per cent from its previous target of 500,000, ۴ý confirmed Wednesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Liberal party is 'strong and united,' despite efforts from within his caucus to oust him as leader.
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McDonald’s worked Wednesday to reassure customers that its U.S. restaurants are safe as federal investigators tried to pinpoint the cause of a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to the fast-food giant's Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
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Starbucks Corp suspended its forecast through the next fiscal year as new CEO Brian Niccol looks to turn around the coffee giant struggling with falling demand for its pricey drinks.
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He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
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He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
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Canada will lower the number of permanent immigrants it allows into the country by at least 20 per cent from its previous target of 500,000, ۴ý confirmed Wednesday.
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