Israel is increasingly coming under international criticism due to the high and rising number of civilian casualties in the Gaza war. Now the world court is even being called upon. The overview.
As Israel’s army intensifies its operations in the Gaza Strip, South Africa has now accused the Jewish state of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague and demanded a cessation of fighting.
In the lawsuit filed yesterday, South Africa is asking the court for an injunction ordering Israel to immediately suspend military operations in the densely populated coastal area. Israel rejected the accusation of genocide against the Palestinian people as completely baseless and described South Africa’s request as a “despicable” exploitation of the world court, according to media reports.
Israel rejects genocide accusations
“South Africa’s lawsuit has no basis in fact or in law,” a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “South Africa is collaborating with a terrorist organization (Hamas) that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.” Hamas is solely responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel’s army continues to hunt Hamas leadership
Meanwhile, Hamas military leader Jihia Sinwar is believed to be hiding in underground tunnels in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army. Israel’s troops are currently concentrating their ground offensive on this city. It is considered a Hamas stronghold. In the previously contested north of the coastal area sealed off by Israel, Israeli troops found and destroyed one of Sinwar’s former hideouts in recent weeks, as the Israeli army has only now announced.
It was said that the Israeli soldiers came across a tunnel entrance in the basement of a house. This led to underground passages 20 meters deep and 218 meters long. According to media reports, Sinwar is said to have fled to the south of Gaza shortly after the war began.
Below the Gaza Strip there is a whole network of tunnels stretching for many kilometers in which, according to Israel, a number of Hamas terrorists are hiding and are also holding Israeli hostages there. To withstand Israel’s bombs from the air, some tunnels extend dozens of meters underground. The terrorists also use the tunnels to appear out of nowhere and attack from behind. Many of the tunnels are booby-trapped to kill Israeli soldiers who enter them.
South Africa: Israel is exterminating the Palestinians
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. The total number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war rose to 21,507, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza. The number cannot currently be independently verified.
In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation and the high number of civilian victims, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism. South Africa is one of Israel’s harshest critics. South African politicians have repeatedly compared Israel’s behavior in Gaza to the apartheid system of separating blacks and whites in their own country in the second half of the 20th century.
The World Criminal Court in The Hague has been investigating Hamas and Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza since 2021. Although Israel is not a state party to the International Criminal Court, it is, along with South Africa, a signatory to the Genocide Convention. This makes it possible to file a complaint with the International Court of Justice. The Israeli forces’ actions had a “genocidal character” as they were aimed at the extermination of Palestinians in Gaza, South Africa’s lawsuit says.
A hearing on South Africa’s application to the ICJ to issue an interim injunction ordering Israel to immediately cease fighting could take place within weeks. If the court then opens proceedings on South Africa’s genocide charges, it could still be years before a verdict is reached.
WHO warns of the spread of infectious diseases
Israel repeatedly emphasizes that it is at war with Hamas and not with the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Hamas uses civilians as human shields. Meanwhile, international aid organizations never tire of pointing out the horrific humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The people in the south of the coastal area sealed off by Israel, which is barely larger than the city of Munich, are still being forced to flee masses, wrote the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Platform X. The emergency shelters are completely overcrowded. “My WHO colleagues and I remain very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases,” Tedros wrote.
USA continues to supply Israel with weapons
Meanwhile, the USA, as Israel’s most important supporter, is ensuring that the Jewish state continues to be supplied with weapons in its fight against Hamas. The US State Department, bypassing Congress, has approved the sale of additional weapons to Israel worth millions.
Without the usual review by Congress for arms sales abroad, the sale of weapons worth 147.5 million dollars (around 133 million euros) is in principle possible, the responsible Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced yesterday. It’s about the security interests of the USA.
What is important today
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains catastrophic. Thousands of civilians are once again fleeing the ongoing fighting, which is currently concentrated in the south and central Gaza Strip. Criticism of Israel’s actions continues.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
