South Africa has filed an urgent request with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday for additional provisional measures against Israel over its planned military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah.
"South Africa today filed an urgent request with the Court for the indication of additional provisional measures and the modification of provisional measures previously prescribed by the Court in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)," the statement read.
The African nation calls on the ICJ to consider "the changed circumstances and new facts" and order further provisional measures as well as modify the previously indicated ones, The Hague-based court said.
"The situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza," the ICJ quoted South Africa as saying in its request.
South Africa filed its lawsuit against Israel on December 29, 2023. On January 26, the ICJ ruled provisional measures ordering Israel to take urgent steps to prevent acts of genocide and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to the enclave. At the same time, the ICJ did not order an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. In early March, the African nation went back to the ICJ to call for additional provisional measures against Israel that would address widespread starvation among Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.