Israeli attacks on Gaza: South Africa files ‘urgent request’ with ICJ for fresh measures

Israeli attacks on Gaza: South Africa files ‘urgent request’ with ICJ for fresh measures

South Africa filed an “urgent request” on Friday with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for additional measures amid Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The request is coming at a time when the death toll continues to rise 34,900…

South Africa has urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of new emergency measures over the raging war in Gaza, the United Nations’ highest court announced on Friday.

“In its new request, South Africa states that the provisional measures previously indicated by the Court are not capable of ‘fully address[ing]’ the changed circumstances and new facts on which [its] request is founded,” the ICJ said in a statement.

The Israeli army on Tuesday stormed and occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, shutting Palestinians residing in Gaza’s only gateway to the world.

The court added that “South Africa requests the Court to indicate further provisional measures and modify the previous provisional measures.”

South Africa stressed in its request, according to the ICJ that “(The) situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses 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, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people.

Since then, more than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children.

South Africa filed an “urgent request” on Friday with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for additional measures amid Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The request is coming at a time when the death toll continues to rise 34,900…

South Africa has urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of new emergency measures over the raging war in Gaza, the United Nations’ highest court announced on Friday.

“In its new request, South Africa states that the provisional measures previously indicated by the Court are not capable of ‘fully address[ing]’ the changed circumstances and new facts on which [its] request is founded,” the ICJ said in a statement.

The Israeli army on Tuesday stormed and occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, shutting Palestinians residing in Gaza’s only gateway to the world.

The court added that “South Africa requests the Court to indicate further provisional measures and modify the previous provisional measures.”

South Africa stressed in its request, according to the ICJ that “(The) situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses 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, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people.

Since then, more than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children.