South Africa filed a lawsuit accusing Israel of genocidal intent in Gaza at the ICJ on December 29 in response to a rising civilian death toll in the besieged Palestinian enclave. It seeks to prove that Israel's military campaign is genocidal in nature and targets Gazans as a part of the broader Palestinian people.
"As soon as South Africa filed the lawsuit, we formed a commission ... and will soon bring our case to the ICJ as a third party. South Africa's case was initiated based on the 1948 Genocide Convention. Taking into account its Article 9, Iran has not filed a suit on its own as it would have meant recognizing Israel as a state," Dehghan was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
On January 11-12, the top United Nations court in The Hague held public hearings on South Africa's suit. In its address, South Africa's representatives urged the ICJ to obligate Israel to end its military operation in the Gaza Strip, ensure that the enclaves' residents have access to food, water and humanitarian aid, and abstain from actions that could worsen the situation. Israel, for its part, argued that the escalation of conflict in the Gaza Strip started with Hamas's October 7 attack and insisted on its right to self-defense.