The International Court of Justice in the Hague was set to hold two days of hearings in a case brought by South Africa in December claiming the war violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
“Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday of the genocide accusations, rejected by Israel and the United States.
“As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will stand on the right side of history,” Mr Ramaphosa said.
“The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel, as Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas rapist regime,” said Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy.
The hearings will deal exclusively with South Africa’s request for an emergency order that Israel suspend military action in Gaza while the court, also known as the World Court, hears the merits of the case – a process that could take years.
In its 84-page filing South Africa says that by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious mental and bodily harm and by creating conditions “calculated to bring about their physical destruction”, Israel is committing genocide against them.
The 1948 treaty defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.