United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese shared that the crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since 7 October could preoccupy the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the next 50 years.
23 March 2024; MEMO: This came in a post on her X account on Friday, in which Albanese published a video showing the Israeli army killing four Palestinian civilians in the city of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, using an armed drone.
Albanese posted: “The colossal amount of evidence concerning int’l crimes committed by Israel in Gaza just over the past 6 months could keep the @IntlCrimCourt busy for the next five decades, especially at the current proceedings pace. Accountability is more needed than ever.”
On 6 March, South Africa submitted an urgent application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to establish additional precautionary measures and amend the court’s order issued on 26 January, 2024, and its subsequent decision on 16 February in the case against Israel relating to the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The ICJ explained that South Africa stated in its new request that it was forced to return to the court in light of the latest facts and changes in the situation on the ground in Gaza, especially the widespread famine as a result of the Israeli siege.
This is the third suit filed by South Africa against Israel to the court, the highest judicial body in the UN, since Tel Aviv began its devastating war on the Gaza Strip.
In response to the suit filed by South Africa on 29 December, 2023, the ICJ ordered Tel Aviv on 26 January, 2024, to “take all reasonable measures within their power to prevent genocide” as well as to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has besieged for 17 years. It also ordered Israel to submit a report on: “All measures taken to give effect to this Order within one month as from the date of this Order.”
