South Africa accuses Israel of genocide before a UN court.

South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice on Friday and asked the UN court to order a halt to fighting in the disputed Gaza Strip, saying Israel was trying to “destroy the Palestinians in Gaza.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the claim as “lacking a factual and legal basis” and described the filing as a “despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court.” Israel has often said it is at war with Hamas, not with the citizens of Gaza.

South Africa has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. In early November, it recalled all its diplomats from Israel over that country’s treatment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Allegations of war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 are already being investigated by the International Criminal Court, which is independent of the UN. But the impact of that investigation is unclear because Israel is not a member state of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction.

However, Israel, along with South Africa, signed the Genocide Convention, which paved the way for the case to be brought to the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid, the racist system of segregation that ruled South Africans for nearly fifty years before ending in 1994.

In recalling South African diplomats from Israel, Mr Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist, said the world had “sat helpless and watched as the intensifying airstrikes on Gaza and the West Bank destroyed schools, health facilities, ambulances and civilian had destroyed infrastructure and supposedly safe roads to southern Gaza.”

According to Gaza health authorities, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7. A Hamas-led attack on Israel that day killed an estimated 1,200 people, Israeli officials say.

In its statement on Friday, the Israeli government said it has tried to limit the impact of the war on civilians, and accused South Africa of collaborating with Hamas, “a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. ”

The World Court of Justice, located in The Hagueis responsible for settling legal disputes between Member States.