The Republic of South Africa’s submission of evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) documenting Israel’s non-compliance with legally binding provisional orders issued by the court in the case concerning allegations of genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, must spur other states to pressure Israel to comply, Amnesty International said today.
In its submission to the ICJ, South Africa argues that Israel has failed to comply with the measures ordered by the court. This is consistent with Amnesty International’s findings that Israeli authorities have failed to implement the measures by continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, even after the so-called ceasefire of October 2025.
“Since the ICJ issued its first set of provisional measures in January 2024, Israeli authorities have continued to inflict irreparable damage to the rights of Palestinians in Gaza protected under the Genocide Convention, in utter disregard of the court’s orders and its legal obligations under international law. Rather than complying with the court’s mandatory measures, Israel is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa
“The South African submission is an outlier in a crowded field of states who have failed to take action to prevent Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and in some cases enabled it. Many third states have helped sustain Israel’s impunity, some by failing to take any effective measures to enforce the Court’s binding provisional measures, and others also by actively providing the diplomatic cover, financial resources and material support that have enabled Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. All the while the international community has continued its 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 Israeli authorities continue to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, in whole or in part, by imposing severe restrictions on the entry and distribution of essential supplies, including sufficient medical supplies and equipment, nutritiously diverse food, adequate amounts of fuel, and necessary reconstruction and repair material, all 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.
“By killing Palestinian media workers documenting its violations in Gaza and blocking international media, human rights investigators and UN-mandated bodies from accessing the Gaza Strip as well as denying the International Committee for the Red Cross access to Palestinian detainees – despite a ruling of its own Supreme Court – Israel continues to mask the full horror of its unlawful conduct in Gaza and violates the ICJ’s order to preserve evidence related to allegations of acts of genocide,” said Heba Morayef.
“By failing to investigate, let alone prosecute, any high-ranking politician who issued genocidal statements and emboldening the ongoing spread of dehumanizing rhetoric by senior Israeli politicians, Israel continues to violate the 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 so-called ceasefire, deadly Israeli air strikes, large-scale destruction of civilian objects, mass forced displacement and killings continue. At least 1,303 Palestinians, including over 300 children, have been killed by Israeli attacks since the so-called ceasefire of October 2025.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are living with life-changing physical injuries and mental harm, requiring long-term treatment and rehabilitation denied to Gaza. With nearly the entirety of Gaza’s population displaced, many on multiple occasions, Israel is exacerbating the shelter crisis it engineered by blocking the reconstruction process and deploying its troops and local militias across nearly 65% of the Gaza Strip, preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes and lands east of the so-called “yellow line,” the ever-shifting, expanding demarcation line splintering Gaza.
“This grim reality underscores the urgent need for protecting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and ensuring that Israel immediately comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” said Heba Morayef.
“All states must pressure Israel to end violations of international law, push for the implementation of the ICJ’s provisional measures, stop arms transfers and military assistance and end trade or economic relations that contribute to the unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in accordance with the ICJ’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion. In particular, Amnesty calls on South Africa to suspend any trade agreements with Israel that may risk contributing so human rights violations, including seaborne thermal coal shipments.”
Background
In the ongoing South Africa v. Israel Genocide case, the ICJ found in its January 26, 2024 order that the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts under the Genocide Convention was plausible, requiring the indication of binding provisional measures to protect this right from irreparable prejudice.
The court issued three sets of provisional measures in January, March and May 2024, all of which directed Israel to prevent acts of genocide, prevent and punish public and direct incitement to genocide, ensure the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian supplies and prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegation of genocidal acts.
In its May 24, 2024 order, the court called on Israel to “halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction”. Not only has Israel failed to comply with these orders, it ended up destroying most of Rafah, imposing siege-like conditions in Gaza at various stages, continuing its relentless bombardment of the Strip. Since the ceasefire of 2025, Israel has deliberately refused to take the measures necessary to reverse the devastating and cumulative impacts of its acts in Gaza and the genocide has continued.
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