By Sue Harris
September 2, 2026

South Africa submitted a detailed dossier to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Aug. 25 formally accusing Israel of defying measures issued in 2024 to prevent genocide and safeguard essential aid in Gaza

Pretoria stated, “Regrettably, Israel has not complied with the Orders,” warning that Tel Aviv’s ongoing non-compliance directly threatens the court’s legitimacy while exposing the Palestinian population to systematic destruction before a final judgment can be delivered

The submission details a staggering human toll, citing at least 73,407 Palestinians killed and 174,335 injured since October 2023 — representing over 10% of Gaza’s entire population. Pretoria highlighted the severe atrocities that still persist, including arbitrary detentions, widespread torture, sexual violence and a threefold spike in miscarriages among pregnant women.

The filing further noted that despite a nominal ceasefire, the Israeli military has continued to kill an average of one Palestinian child per day. South Africa has vowed to pursue all available legal avenues to enforce compliance. (The Cradle, August 29)

As of Aug. 30, the Palestine Ministry of Health reports 73, 454 martyred and 174, 486 injured. (Resistance News, Aug 30)

The South African government feels a particularly close political affinity with the plight of the Palestinian people, having fought a decades-long heroic national liberation struggle of their own against a white supremacist, apartheid state that ended in a legal overthrow of that fascistic regime in the early 1990s.

In an 84-page application to the ICJ on Dec. 29, 2023, South Africa described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocidal in character, because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.” (tinyurl.com/2p9ac3rk)

‘Deliberate targeting of Palestinian children’ is genocide

Israel’s response in 2024 to the South African charges was swift and automatic: “Antisemitism!” However, a recent study by the United Nations Human Rights Commission found that “the intense scale and systematic nature of the Israeli military operations have continued — resulting in unprecedented death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children,” and “the deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements establishing the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.”

“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.” (U.N. Human Rights Commission, June 26, 2026)

In answer to the ICJ decision to accuse Israel of ‘plausible genocide’ in 2024, at least 10 governments in the imperialist camp — the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, Britain, Finland, Netherlands, France and Scotland — withdrew millions of dollars from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

And less than a day after the ICJ decision, Israel alleged — for the first time and with no proof — that at least 12 of the 30,000 UNRWA workers were tied to the historic military operation carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. From Oct. 7, 2023 until Jan. 30, 2024, Israelis killed over 150 UNRWA workers. (workers.org, Jan 30, 2024)

In an editorial on Feb. 20, 2024, Workers World newspaper stated: “The first and negative lesson is that the imperialist regimes — the U.S., its historic NATO allies plus Japan and Australia — still dominate the existing international institutions like the United Nations and its international courts. What was significant in this case is that the ICJ seemed to slip out of this ironclad control, at least temporarily.

“The second and positive lesson is that tens of millions of people around the world have demonstrated their revulsion at the Israeli war crimes in Gaza. They have protested U.S. and European Union complicity in these crimes. Their mobilization has been so strong that, despite the imperialist domination of the ICJ, this court first found South Africa’s charges of genocide by Israel ‘plausible’.

“If someone believes, falsely, that the ICJ can somehow end the occupation of Palestine or end the assault on Gaza, then the movement can explain the limitations of the ICJ and the need for street demonstrations, strikes, boycotts and the legitimacy of armed struggle for oppressed peoples.

“If, however, bringing up the ICJ ruling can help win more forces to solidarity with Palestine or win support to defend the rights of pro-Palestine activists, then the movement can employ the ruling to do this. Every weapon in the struggle for liberation is legitimate.”