Malaysia has become the first country to endorse South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This comes after South Africa applied to the ICJ to get the court in The Hague to hear its case against the State of Israel.
In its application to the ICJ, South Africa says Israel’s war on Palestine has become “genocidal” and turned into “crimes against humanity”.
On Tuesday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said the case would be heard on Thursday, January 11, by the International Criminal Court (ICC), with the State of Israeli confirming that it would oppose the application.
Independent Media has reported that South Africa’s decision to approach the ICJ over Israel’s military and humanitarian violations on the Gaza Strip has made international headlines after SA became the the first country to file such an application amid the global condemnation and widespread calls for a ceasefire.
In a statement, Malaysia said it supported SA’s application.
“Malaysia welcomes the application by South Africa instituting proceedings Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the violations by Israel of its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Genocide Convention) in relation to Palestinians in Gaza Strip,” Malasia said.
The county said the application by South Africa included a request for the court to indicate or declare a provisional or short-term measures for Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza as part of measures to curb killing of children and women.
It is reported that more than 12 500 children and women have been killed since the start of the war on October 7, with a combined death toll of 21 600. The war has displaced more than 1.9 million people, representing more than 85% of Gaza’s population.
Malaysia said South Africa’s legal challenge came at a time when the world needed to intervene.
“The legal action against Israel before ICJ is a timely and tangible step towards legal accountability for Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) at large.
“As a fellow state party to the Genocide Convention, Malaysia calls on Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law and to immediately end its atrocities against Palestinians.
“Malaysia reiterates its call for a durable solution by granting the Palestinians their own sovereign State, based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it said.
The Star