Malaysia welcomes South Africa’s legal action against Israel

Malaysia says it welcomes the application by South Africa to institute proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the alleged genocide violations in the Gaza Strip.

The application by South Africa also includes a request for the Court to indicate provisional or short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza in order to protect the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, and to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

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South Africa contends that as a State Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, it is under a treaty obligation to prevent genocide from occurring.

“Therefore, at a special meeting held on 8 December 2023, Cabinet directed that the International Court of Justice in The Hague be approached to obtain an order directing Israel, which is also a State Party, to refrain from any acts that may constitute genocide or related crimes under the Convention.

“An application in this regard was filed before the Court on 29 December 2023 in which the Court is requested to declare on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, should immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions,” the South African Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said.

According to Malaysia’s ministry of foreign affairs, 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 called on Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law and to immediately end its war against Palestinians.

The Southeast Asian country reiterated its call for a durable solution by granting the Palestinians their own independent and sovereign State, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.