South Africa asks International Court of Justice to stop Israel from attacking Rafah

On May 10, South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop Israel's military attack on the city of Rafah located south of Gaza.

In an urgent petition to the court, South Africa urged the ICJ to order Israel to "immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive" in Rafah.

South Africa stressed that Israel must "immediately take all effective measures to ensure and facilitate United Nations access to Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance to the people of Gaza".

South Africa's motion stated that Israel's military attack on Rafah "poses a major risk to humanitarian supplies and basic services in Gaza, as well as to the survival of the Palestinian health system and the survival of Palestinians in Gaza".

South Africa therefore called on the ICJ to take further urgent measures to “protect the Palestinian people in Gaza from serious and irreparable violations of their rights”.

This is the latest petition that South Africa has made to the ICJ regarding the conflict between Israel and the armed Islamic movement Hamas in Gaza.

On 29 December 2023, South Africa requested the ICJ to initiate proceedings against Israel, alleging that Israel violated its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On January 26, the ICJ issued a ruling requiring Israel to take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On March 6, South Africa continued to request the ICJ to issue an emergency order against Israel to end the widespread famine in the Gaza Strip.

On March 28, the ICJ ordered Israel to take all necessary measures to ensure basic aid reaches the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Israeli media reported on May 10 that Egypt threatened to cancel the Peace Treaty if Israel did not stop military operations in the city of Rafah.

Specifically, Maariv newspaper reported that during the visit of the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns to Cairo, Egyptian officials asked Washington to put strong pressure on Israel to end its military operations in Rafah and resume serious negotiations. Otherwise, Egypt would cancel the Camp David Accords - the historic peace treaty signed between the US, Israel and Egypt in 1978.

Following growing media pressure from Egypt calling for the Camp David Accords to be scrapped, Israeli officials have begun contacting their Egyptian counterparts on the matter, Maariv newspaper reported.

Also on May 10, the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate and independent investigation into mass graves, believed to contain hundreds of bodies, near hospitals in Gaza.

In a press release, the UN Security Council members expressed deep concern over the discovery of mass graves in and around the Nasser and Al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, containing hundreds of bodies, including women, children and the elderly.

The statement stressed the need for justice for violations of international law and for investigators to have access to all mass grave sites in Gaza to conduct independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent and objective investigations.

In addition, the UN Security Council member states also reiterated the need for all parties directly involved in the conflict in Gaza to strictly comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, especially with regard to the protection of civilians and civilian property.