South Africa files 750-page evidence against Israel to ICJ over Gaza war

According to the South African presidency, the submission, also called a memorial, includes 750 pages of evidence of acts of genocide and genocidal intent.

“The evidence will show that undergirding Israel’s genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide,” a statement by the presidency said.

It added that the evidence is presented in more than 750 pages of text, in addition to over 4,000 pages of annexes.

“South Africa’s Memorial is a reminder to the global community to remember the people of Palestine, to stand in solidarity with them and to stop the catastrophe. The devastation and suffering has been possible only because despite the ICJ and numerous UN bodies’ actions and interventions, Israel has failed to comply with its international obligations,” it noted.

The submission may not be made public, in accordance with the rules of the court, said the presidency.

Israel will have a deadline of 28 July 2025 to file a response, known as counter-memorial.

South Africa brought its case before the ICJ in December 2023, accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, to which Israel is a party, during the Gaza onslaught since 7 October.

The 84-page application alleged that Israel has committed acts intended to destroy Palestinians, who are defined as a national, racial and ethnic group, in whole or in part. It also alleged that Israel has failed to prevent or punish such acts.

The evidence included statements by Israeli officials expressing “genocidal intent”, and a list of how Israel’s alleged actions had met the definition of genocide, as listed in the treaty.

The acts include killings; causing serious bodily and mental harm; mass expulsion and displacement; and deprivation of access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothes, hygiene, and medical assistance.

On 26 January, the ICJ announced that it was plausible that Israel had breached the Genocide Convention. As an emergency measure, it ordered Israel ensure that its army refrained from genocidal acts against Palestinians.

It may take several years before the ICJ makes a full judgement on the case. Its deliberations often involve a protracted process of written submissions and oral arguments by all parties to the case.

For example, ICJ’s judgment in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro, which involved allegations of genocide, was delivered in February 2007, more than a decade after the case began in March 1993.

Following requests by South Africa, the court subsequently issued interim orders on 28 March and 24 May that called on Israel to halt its assault on Rafah in southern Gaza and ensure the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

In its May order, ICJ court also ordered that Israel ensure that UN investigators could enter Gaza to investigate allegations of genocide.

But Israel has defied the court’s orders. The ICJ reported, as part of its decisions in March and May, that the situation in Gaza had deteriorated and that Israel had failed to abide by its order in January.

Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide saying they amount to a “distortion” of the Genocide Convention and that Israel has a right to self-defence following the events of 7 October.

The war on Gaza has continued unabated for more than a year, with the number of Palestinians killed as a result of Israeli bombardment and ground operation surpassing 43,000 as of 28 October.

An analysis by Oxfam published on 1 October 2024 reported that the Israeli army has killed more children and women in Gaza during the past year than the equivalent period of any other war this century.

A UN inquiry this month accused Israel of committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination in Gaza through its systematic attacks on the healthcare system.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri said in his latest report to the General Assembly that Israel’s starvation policy in Gaza meets the threshold for genocidal acts and intent.

The South African presidency, in its statement on Monday, said Israel has been allowed to breach international law and norms with “unprecedented impunity”.

“Israel has been granted unprecedented impunity to breach international law and norms for as long as the UN Charter has been in existence. Israel’s continued shredding of international law has imperilled the institutions of global governance that were established to hold all states accountable,” it added.

Several states have requested intervention in South Africa’s case, including Bolivia, the Maldives, Chile, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya, Colombia and Nicaragua.