War crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide. These are the grounds found in South Africa’s complaint against Israel. On 29 December 2023, the South African government lodged a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the State of Israel following the various attacks on the Gaza Strip in Palestine since 7 October 2023. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 21,000 people.
On December 29, 2023, South Africa lodged a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the State of Israel on the grounds of genocide in the Gaza Strip. This complaint now records among the one filed jointly in November 2023 with four other countries calling for an investigation into Israel’s military operation in Gaza. For the South African authorities, the Israeli government’s actions constitute a violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the illegal use of force by Israel is a war crime. The deliberate denial of medicine, food, fuel and water to the people of Gaza amounts to genocide”.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic – South Africa
In protest against the attacks on Gaza, on November 21, 2023 South African members of parliament voted in favor of a motion to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria, the South African capital, and to suspend diplomatic relations with this Middle Eastern country. South Africa believes that the International Court of Justice ought to take interim measures to protect the rights of the Palestinian people.
« We believe that the nature of Israel’s response has become one of collective punishment, completely outside the practice of international humanitarian law and international human rights law ».
Naledi Pandor , Minister for International Relations and Cooperation – South Africa
Several countries, NGOs, a group of 500 lawyers of different nationalities have also lodged a complaint against the Israeli government for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a reminder, since October 7, 2023 the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already claimed more than 21,000 lives and wounded more than 55,000, most of them children and women
