In view of the Israeli offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, South Africa has submitted an urgent request with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
The ICJ is called upon to persuade Israel to take further steps to prevent genocide of the Palestinians, including a demand that Israel withdraw from Rafah immediately.
The previous measures "are not capable of ‘fully address[ing]’ the changed circumstances and new facts on which [South Africa's] request is founded," the UN court quoted South Africa's petition as saying on Friday.
The escalation of the situation is creating "new facts that are
causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza."
It poses an "extreme risk" to humanitarian aid deliveries and basic services in the Gaza Strip, as well as to the survival of the Palestinian health-care system, according to South Africa.
South Africa had lodged a case against Israel at the end of 2023 for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention committed during the Gaza war.
In an interim ruling, the UN court ordered Israel to take protective measures to prevent genocide. It must also allow more humanitarian aid for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. It also called on Israel on January 26 to submit a report on the measures taken within one month.
Israel firmly denies the accusations of genocide. It invokes its right to self-defence after militants from the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas and other extremist groups attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people.
The ICJ will decide on the accusation of genocide as such in a lengthy process that could drag on for years.