SA ropes in top legal team, decries Palestinian suffering in submissions to ICJ

Hundreds of families have been killed in their entirety during Israeli attacks on Gaza in retaliation for the terror attack by Hamas. The bombing campaign on the territory has also seen a rise in “slow deaths” caused by an inability to get treatment for wounds, starvation and the spread of diseases due to access to clean water being cut off as a result of damage to infrastructure. 

This is contained in South Africa's documentation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to institute proceedings against Israel for its alleged violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

The ICJ in The Hague has scheduled next Thursday to hear South Africa's application which is being compiled by a legal team comprising:

• senior counsels John Dugard, Max du Plessis, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi and Adila Hassim;
• juniors Sarah Pudifin-Jones, Lerato Zikalala and Tshidiso Ramogale; and
• external counsel Vaughan Lowe KC and Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC.

Proceedings will be broadcast live.

“The 2.3-million Palestinians in Gaza, including over a million children, are extremely vulnerable. There is a grave threat to their existence. They are in urgent and severe need of the court’s protection. With each passing day that Israel’s military attacks continue, further significant loss of life and property is being caused,” the South African team said.

In its submission, South Africa states Israel has, since the Hamas attack in October, dropped unguided bombs on Gaza as well as heavy bombs weighing up to 900kg, “in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, where about one in every 100 people has now been killed”.

“Many fled the north of the territory to the south, having been ordered to do so by Israel, only to be bombed again in the south, and told to flee again further south or to the southwest, where they are reduced to living in makeshift tents in camps with no water, sanitation or other facilities.

“An estimated 1,779 Palestinian families in Gaza have lost multiple family members, and hundreds of multigenerational families have been killed in their entirety, with no remaining survivors — mothers, fathers, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, cousins — often all killed together.

“By November 7 last year, 312 Palestinian families in Gaza had lost over 10 members each. Numerous Palestinian families have lost upwards of 70 members each.

“The level of mortality in Palestinian families is such that medics in Gaza have had to coin a new acronym: ‘WCNSF’, meaning ‘wounded child, no surviving family’.

“For the families who remain intact or partially intact, it’s about doing everything you can so your child doesn’t realise that you’ve lost control.”

More than 55,243 Palestinians have been wounded in Israel’s military attacks on Gaza since October 7 2023, the papers state. But access to treatment is a problem, with only 13 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza partially functional, and no fully functioning hospital left in North Gaza.

"[Some of the] injured are reduced to 'waiting to die', unable to seek surgery or medical treatment beyond first aid, dying slow, agonising deaths from their injuries or from resultant infections,” the submission states.

“Contagious and epidemic diseases are rife among the displaced population, with experts warning of the risk of meningitis, cholera and other outbreaks.”

The effects of the conflict will be long-lasting, both emotionally and physically, the team cautions. 

An emergency co-ordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) was quoted as saying: “The amount of suffering is unbearable. I'm speechless when I try to think of the future of these children. It's generations of children who will be handicapped, who will be traumatised.”

And for many Palestinians, the South African team said, the forced evacuation from their homes is necessarily permanent.

“Israel has now damaged or destroyed an estimated 355,000 Palestinian homes — amounting to 60% of the entire housing stock in Gaza. The extent of the destruction in the north of Gaza, in particular, has rendered it largely unlivable, with the destruction in the south reaching a similar level.”

The submission cited the World Health Organisation as estimating 93% of the population in Gaza is facing a hunger crisis with “one in four households facing ‘catastrophic conditions’: experiencing an extreme lack of food and starvation and having resorted to selling off their possessions and other extreme measures to afford a simple meal”.

The team said the situation is ever-worsening.

“The conditions created by the siege are exacerbated by Israel’s continuing strikes on Gaza, including on its bakeries, water facilities and last remaining operating mill, and its razing of agricultural lands, crops, orchards and greenhouses.

“By November 16, the food infrastructure in Gaza was already considered 'no longer functional', given shop and market closures, the lack of essential food items and the inflated price of the scarce food available.

“Bread is scarce or non-existent ... livestock that has not been killed is facing starvation, and crops are damaged or destroyed. Many Palestinians are resorting to foraging due to hunger, collecting spilt flour from aid distributions from the road, or other unsafe food practices.

“Water is also severely depleted. Israel continues to cut off piped water for the north of Gaza and the north’s water desalination plant is non-functioning. The damage from Israeli air strikes and shelling has also rendered most of the water system inoperable.

“Experts are now predicting that more Palestinians in Gaza may die from starvation and disease than air strikes, and yet Israel is intensifying its bombing campaign, precluding the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians,” the South African papers state.

Israel will argue its position the day after the South African team's presentation to the court. Reuters reported the country believes Hamas carries moral responsibility for the war it started and intends to list a series of measures it has taken to minimise harm to civilians.

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