South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel on charges of committing “genocide” crimes in Gaza (Reuters)

Israel attacked South Africa again on Thursday after Pretoria's urgent request to take additional precautionary measures against Tel Aviv in the case it filed against it on charges of committing "genocide" in Gaza.

Israel called on the International Court of Justice to reject the urgent request submitted by South Africa.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Khayat said in a statement that South Africa “continues to act as the legal arm of the (Islamic Resistance) movement Hamas in an attempt to prevent Israel from the right to defend itself and its citizens, and to work to release detainees.”

“The repeated appeals by South Africa in an attempt to protect Hamas are another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which has rejected their baseless requests for a ceasefire twice already,” he claimed.

He claimed that Israel “acts and will continue to act in accordance with international law, and allows humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip regardless of any legal procedures.” This contradicts reality, as Israel imposed a stifling siege on Gaza in conjunction with its war on the Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, including those who died of starvation and malnutrition.

Khayyat said, "We call on the court to categorically reject the new request submitted by Hamas representatives," referring to South Africa.

Urgent request

Yesterday, Wednesday, the International Court of Justice in The Hague announced that it had received an urgent request from South Africa to take additional precautionary measures against Israel in the case it filed against it on charges of committing “genocide” in Gaza.

This is the third request submitted by South Africa against Israel to the court, which is the highest judicial body in the United Nations, since Tel Aviv began its devastating war on the Gaza Strip 5 months ago.

The court said, in a statement, that “South Africa submitted an urgent request today (Wednesday) to specify additional precautionary measures and amend the court order issued on January 26, and its subsequent decision issued on February 16, in the case brought against Israel, related to the application of... Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

South Africa again requests the Court to “specify further preventive measures and/or amend the preventive measures it referred to in its order of 26 January 2024 (..) to urgently ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including more Of one million children,” according to the same statement.

The statement added that South Africa urged the court to do so without holding a hearing, given the “utmost necessity of the current situation” in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza left more than 100,000 dead and injured, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide.”

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies