South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said that her country will submit its memorandum that includes an accusation against Israel of genocide to the International Court of Justice, as part of previous rounds related to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which continues for the 388th day.
Pandor explained that the memorandum includes more evidence and details to show that what is happening in Gaza is “indeed genocide,” following demands from her country to the court in The Hague to take new measures under the Genocide Convention, ordering Israel to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and withdraw its army from the Strip. From the Rafah crossing.
The South African presidency said last September that it would submit a memorandum to the International Court of Justice documented with facts and evidence proving that Israel committed the crime of genocide in Palestine.
In mid-May, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said that what is happening in Palestine is apartheid, stressing that her country wants to apply the Genocide Convention to Israel regarding its behavior against the Palestinians.
The Minister reiterated her confirmation of moving forward with the case brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice, because the massacres committed by Israeli forces are a reality before the entire world, as she put it.
The court had set the 28th of this month as a deadline for South Africa to submit its opinion in the case, in addition to setting the deadline for Israel to submit its opposing view on July 28, 2025.
On December 29, South Africa submitted a request to the court to impose restrictive measures on Israel due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The sessions began on January 11 and 12 of this year with pleadings from both sides.
South Africa submitted its complaint accusing Israel of violating the United Nations Convention for the Prevention of Genocide concluded in 1948 in its attack on the Gaza Strip, and several countries later joined it, including Colombia, Libya and Turkey.
Earlier, Axios reported that Israel had exerted pressure on members of the US Congress to pressure South Africa to drop its legal procedures at the International Court of Justice regarding the war in the Gaza Strip.
This comes as Israel continues its war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 143,500 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and a worsening famine looming over the besieged Strip.