1 year of Gaza genocide: How South Africa put Israel in the ICJ dock

Since Israel launched its attack on the Gaza Strip last October, South Africa has maintained a firm stance, expressing support for the Palestinians but also condemning the resistance group Hamas for attacking and kidnapping Israeli civilians.  

Pretoria, which has been highly critical of Israel's military operation in Gaza, has taken several measures against Israel.

In November 2023, South Africa withdrew all its diplomats from Tel Aviv for consultations over Israel’s war on Gaza.

“A genocide under the watch of the international community cannot be tolerated. Another holocaust in the history of humankind is not acceptable,” Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president’s office, told reporters at the time.

South Africa also instructed the Foreign Ministry to take the necessary diplomatic measures to deal with the conduct of the Israel ambassador to South Africa, Eli Belotserkovsky, which they said was becoming very untenable.

Belotserkovsky was accused of making disparaging comments against those who raised their voices against attacks on Palestinians.

A few days later, Israel recalled Belotserkovsky from Pretoria reportedly "for consultations” amid the growing diplomatic rift between the two countries over the conflict in Gaza.  

Protests across South Africa

Thousands of South Africans, including some political parties, students and civil society groups, held dozens of protests across the country demanding Israel to end its military operations in Gaza.

The South African government also called on the UN to deploy a rapid protection force in Gaza to protect the civilian population facing bombardments from Israel.

Then-Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told parliament that South Africans who enjoy the freedom from their past history of apartheid can never be the ones who agree to an apartheid form of oppression in Palestine.

“This cannot be tolerated. This brutality should not be accepted,” she said.

Many South Africans relate to the pain that Palestinians are experiencing under the Israeli occupation though they say the suffering of Palestinians is far worse than what they experienced during apartheid in their country.

Pamela Ngubane, a former Christian Zionist and fierce supporter of Israel now turned a Palestinian supporter, told Anadolu in a previous interview that what Palestinians face under Israeli occupation is worse than what Black people in South Africa experienced during the brutal apartheid era.

“Israel does whatever it wants in Palestine; arrests anyone, even children, and puts them in solitary confinement,” she said.

“What is happening in Gaza is proof, with the thousands of people already killed.”  

ICJ genocide case

Late last year, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The top UN court ordered Israel in May to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave, where casualties have surpassed 41,000.

Last month, South Africa said its genocide case against Israel at the ICJ will continue and South Africa will file a memorial this month.

"South Africa intends to provide facts and evidence to prove that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Palestine,” the presidency said in a statement.

"This case will continue until the court makes a finding. While the case is in progress, we hope that Israel will abide by the court’s provisional orders issued to date," it said.

South Africa’s remarks come amid reports that Israeli diplomats are being instructed to lobby members of the US Congress to pressure South Africa into dropping the case.

Pretoria said its genocide case represents a growing global effort towards ensuring peace in the Middle East.

‘‘South Africa's groundbreaking initiative to charge Israel for the crime of genocide at the International Court of Justice is one of the most defining objectives to hold the Zionist regime accountable,” Iqbal Jassat, an executive member of the Johannesburg-based advocacy group Media Review Network (MRN), told Anadolu in an interview.

Jassat said the fact that many countries have joined South Africa's application is evidence of the global outrage against the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.

Countries that have joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel include Türkiye, Nicaragua, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia. The case began public hearings in January.

He said the case also demonstrates the confidence that most of the world has in the likelihood that the provision of international law will be upheld at the ICJ.

“There is no doubt about the compelling and comprehensive legal arguments by South Africa's galaxy of legal eagles,” he said, adding that “they’ve made an extremely strong case and have been acknowledged by their peers in other parts of the world, and will certainly be successful,’’ he said.

Ahmed Jazbhay, a professor of politics at the University of South Africa, told Anadolu that South Africa got most of the provisional measures it sought in its genocide case against Israel.

Jazbhay said that despite limited resources, South Africa is trying its best to bring Israel to court.

“South Africa is a small fish in a large ocean, but it’s punching above its weight,” he noted, adding that “Africa’s largest economy is now preparing to present its substantive case against Israel, and unfortunately, this case will take many years to be finalized. But in the meantime, we see the invasion of Lebanon and we may see the invasion of Iran too,’’ he said.

He said that by the time Israel completes its invasion, it will likely be clear that Tel Aviv intended to complete its genocide.