South Africa is confident that it has presented the UN International Court of Justice with a compelling case against Israel that can lead to an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, said Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of South Africa.
"What the South African legal team will be requesting the ICJ [to do is] to issue an injunction that will enable them to stop the state of Israel [from] continuing the genocide. And the substantive matters will be dealt with at a later stage," Lamola told reporters on Sunday. "But an urgent one is to stop the genocide, which is a principal position, and also to ensure that we restore respect for the rule of law."
On December 29, South Africa filed a complaint with the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding Israel's actions in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and its possible violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, also known as the Genocide Convention.
The lawsuit asks the ICJ to declare as a matter of urgency that Israel, in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention, must immediately cease all actions that violate that instrument and its obligations thereunder.
The first hearings in the South African case against Israel will begin in The Hague on January 11. They will be devoted to determining the format of the public debate. According to South African legal sources, the South African representatives will first seek an immediate order from the Court as an interim measure to cease all armed action by Israel in the Gaza Strip. After that, South African lawyers are prepared to pursue the merits of the case.