South Africa’s government said Tuesday it had lodged an “urgent request” with the U.N.’s International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel’s military operations targeting the southern Gaza city of Rafah are a breach of provisional orders the court handed down last month in a case alleging genocide.
South Africa said it asked the court to weigh whether Israel’s strikes on Rafah, and its intention to launch a ground offensive on the city where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter, breaches both the U.N. Genocide Convention and preliminary orders handed down by the court last month in a case accusing Israel of genocide.
South Africa’s government said in a statement that Rafah was “the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza.” It asked the top U.N. court to consider using its powers to issue additional preliminary orders telling Israel to halt the deaths and destruction there.