Ammon News - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold its first session on Thursday to consider a case brought by South Africa in which Israel accuses the occupying power of committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

South Africa submitted on December 29, an 84-page request to the International Court of Justice to initiate proceedings against Israel, stressing that “Israel’s actions and shortcomings bear the character of genocide,” the International Court of Justice said in a statement.

The lawsuit also notes that Israel's conduct: “through state agencies, agents of the state and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence” constitutes a violation of its obligations towards Palestinians in Gaza under the Genocide Convention.

The lawsuit also stated that Israel: “failed to prevent genocide, and failed to prosecute direct and public incitement to genocide.”