South Africa submits an urgent request for the indication of additional provisional measures and the modification of previous provisional measures – Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)

10 May 2024

No. 2024/41

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South Africa today filed an urgent request with the Court for the indication of additional provisional measures and the modification of provisional measures previously prescribed by the Court in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

In its new request, South Africa states that the provisional measures previously indicated by the Court “are not capable of ‘fully address[ing]’ the changed circumstances and new facts on which [its] Request is founded”. It further states that

“[t]he situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

South Africa requests the Court to indicate further provisional measures and modify the previous provisional measures, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73 (1), 74 (1), 75 (1) and (3) and/or 76 (1) of the Rules of Court, for “the protection of the Palestinian people in Gaza from grave and irreparable violations of their rights, and of South Africa’s rights, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.