CAPE TOWN (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Presidency of South Africa announced that it will submit a memorandum to the International Court of Justice next month, documenting facts and evidence proving that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Palestine. The Arab states have agreed to support this case.
The presidency stated in a post on its official website that this case will continue until the court issues its ruling, expressing hope that Israel will comply with the interim orders issued by the court so far.
According to Axios news site, the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a confidential cable to its embassy in Washington and to all consulates in the United States regarding South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice.
Axios reported that the cable urged the embassy and consulates to work immediately with legislators, governors, and Jewish organizations to pressure South Africa to change its policies toward Israel.
The site also indicated that Israel is exerting pressure on members of the U.S. Congress. Israeli diplomats were directed to ask members of Congress and Jewish organizations in the United States to communicate directly with South African diplomats in the U.S. and clarify that South Africa would pay a heavy price if it did not change its policy.
In parallel, an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting held in Cairo on Tuesday witnessed agreement among Arab countries to officially intervene to support the case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
The final statement from the meeting of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers noted that “the member states of the Arab League, parties to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, agreed to officially intervene to support the case brought by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice.”
South Africa resorted to the International Court of Justice at the end of December, 2023, filing a complaint accusing Israel of violating the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was established in 1948, in its attack on the Gaza Strip.
