South Africa, a prominent supporter of the Palestinian cause, has accused Israel of committing acts of "genocide" in Gaza.
This accusation comes amidst severe criticism of Israel's devastating airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in October last year.
South Africa has affirmed that "Israel's actions and omissions bear the hallmark of genocide because they are accompanied by the specific intent required to destroy Gazan Palestinians as a national, racial, ethnic, or religious group," according to a statement by the International Court of Justice.
These actions include "the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, causing them physical and mental harm, and imposing living conditions on them that would lead to their physical destruction," according to South Africa.
South Africa further states that all of these actions can be attributed to Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in clear violation of the Genocide Convention and punishable thereunder.
The state of Israel, including its top officials, the President, Prime Minister, and Defense Minister, is seen as expressing the intent to commit genocide.
Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, responded to the accusations on the X platform, saying that Israel strongly rejects the slander disseminated by South Africa and the claim it submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
He added that his country’s allegations lack any factual or legal basis and constitute a baseless and insulting exploitation of the court," accusing Pretoria of "cooperating with a terrorist organization," referring to Hamas.
Haiat called on the International Court of Justice and the international community to reject South Africa's groundless accusations.
South Africa submitted its request on the eighty-fourth day of the war that erupted between Israel and Hamas following an unprecedented attack by the movement on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
Around 250 people were abducted during the attack, with 129 of them still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza has risen to 21,507, with the majority being women and children, and more than 55,000 injured, according to the latest figures released by Hamas' Ministry of Health.
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