South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war in Gaza, the United Nations’s top court said.
In the ongoing case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of acts of genocide against Palestinians, the ICJ in January 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.
Israel has repeatedly said it is acting in accordance with international law in Gaza, and has called South Africa’s genocide case baseless and accused Pretoria of acting as “the legal arm of Hamas”.
In filings published on Friday, South Africa is seeking additional emergency measures in light of the continuing military action in Rafah, which it calls the “last refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza.
The city in the south of Gaza is crammed with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in dire conditions and there have been warnings that an Israeli ground offensive would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe for civilians.
South Africa’s application said Israel’s operation against Rafah poses an “extreme risk” to “humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group,” the UN court said in a statement.
“Those who have survived so far are facing imminent death now, and an order from the Court is needed to ensure their survival,” South Africa’s filing said.
South Africa also asked the court to order that Israel allow unimpeded access to Gaza for UN officials, organisations providing humanitarian aid, and journalists and investigators.