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SA vs Israel | Rights group optimistic about ceasefire as ICJ hears genocide case

todayJanuary 11, 2024 139 1

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Civil rights group, Lawyers for Palestine, says interim relief amid South Africa’s genocide case against Israel will help prevent further devastation in Gaza.

The rights group has expressed optimism that the International Court of Justice will rule in favour of South Africa’s special emergency request for an immediate ceasefire.

All eyes were on the ICJ in the Hague today as it began its two-day hearings of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

South Africa first approached the ICJ in December in a bid to stop Israel’s military bombardment of the Gaza Strip and for the opening of humanitarian aid corridors in the Palestinian territory.

In the first part of the application, South Africa is requesting that the UN top court implement provisional measures to prevent any further loss of life in the region.

Notable members of the South African legal team include, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, an advocate of the Johannesburg Bar, senior counsel Adila Hassam, and international lawyer, Max Du Plessis.

As day  one of court proceedings got underway, South Africa’s legal representative’s accused Israel of turning Gaza into a concentration camp.

The court heard shocking detail of how 1% of the Gazan population had allegedly been wiped out since Israel launched its retaliatory attacks to Hamas’s October 7th attack, which more than a thousand Israelis dead.

Advocate Hassim says no place is safe in Gaza due to the Israeli killings.

 

Since the escalation of violence in the region, Israeli leaders including, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have faced backlash over their comments on the war, which critics have slammed as violent rhetoric.

Advocate Ngcukaitobi says any suggestion that Israeli officials didn’t mean what they said or were misunderstood should be rejected by the International Court of Justice.


The ICJ sitting returns tomorrow when Israel will present its defense.

Written by: Naomi Kobbie

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