South Africa urged the UN’s top court
\nTuesday to place more legal pressure on Israel to halt a threatened offensive
\nagainst the densely crowded Gaza city of Rafah.<\/p>\n
Pretoria has already made a complaint against Israel in the International
\nCourt of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, alleging that its assault on Gaza
\namounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention.<\/p>\n
The court has yet to rule on the underlying issue, but on January 26 it
\nordered Israel to ensure in the interim that it takes action to protect
\nPalestinian civilians from further harm and to allow in humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n
Israel’s campaign has continued, however, and its forces are preparing an
\noperation against Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million people
\nhave sought shelter from the bombardment.<\/p>\n
For South Africa, this is enough to ask the ICJ to revisit its provisional
\nmeasures and issue a sterner order.<\/p>\n
“There has since been a significant development in the situation in Gaza
\nrequiring the Court’s urgent attention,” South Africa said in its updated
\nrequest.<\/p>\n