THE HAGUE, Sept 4 — South Africa has submitted fresh evidence to the International Court of Justice documenting Israel’s non-compliance with the court’s legally binding provisional orders in the genocide case against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, according to a statement from Amnesty International. The submission argues that Israel has failed to implement the measures ordered by the court. Amnesty said this aligns with its own findings that Israeli authorities have continued to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, even after the ceasefire declared in October of last year.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that since the ICJ issued its first set of provisional measures in January 2024, Israeli authorities have continued to inflict irreparable damage on the rights of Palestinians in Gaza protected under the Genocide Convention. “Rather than complying with the court’s mandatory measures, Israel is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Morayef said.
Amnesty characterized South Africa’s submission as an outlier in a crowded field of states that have failed to take action to prevent Israel’s genocide in Gaza — and in some cases enabled it. The organization said many third states have helped sustain Israel’s impunity, some by failing to enforce the court’s binding provisional measures, and others by actively providing diplomatic cover, financial resources, and material support.
Humanitarian access and evidence preservation
Israeli authorities continue to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, Amnesty said, by imposing severe restrictions on the entry and distribution of essential supplies — including medical supplies and equipment, nutritious food, fuel, and reconstruction material — while curtailing the lifesaving work of humanitarian agencies. This violates the court’s January 2024 order to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance,” which was reiterated in March and May 2024.
Morayef also pointed to Israel’s killing of Palestinian media workers documenting violations in Gaza, its blocking of international media, human rights investigators, and UN-mandated bodies from accessing the strip, and its denial of International Committee for the Red Cross access to Palestinian detainees — despite a ruling of Israel’s own Supreme Court. These actions, she said, mask the full horror of Israel’s unlawful conduct and violate the ICJ’s order to preserve evidence related to allegations of genocide.
Amnesty further noted that Israel has failed to investigate or prosecute any high-ranking politician who issued genocidal statements, and has allowed dehumanizing rhetoric by senior Israeli politicians to spread — a continuing violation of the court’s order to prevent and punish public incitement to genocide. Despite some improvements in the humanitarian situation and a reduction in the scale and intensity of attacks since the ceasefire, deadly Israeli air strikes, large-scale destruction of civilian objects, and mass forced displacement have continued, the organization said.
Amnesty also drew attention to the international community’s continued apathy in the face of Israel’s unlawful occupation and system of apartheid, including its ethnic cleansing campaign against Palestinians in Area C of the occupied West Bank. The submission now puts the spotlight back on other states party to the Genocide Convention, which Amnesty argues have a legal obligation to act.
