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

The Undersecretary of State for South Africa said during the session that the world has witnessed the Palestinian Nakba since 1948 and the Israeli occupation’s ongoing practices against them due to the expansionist settlement policy and Israel’s impunity.

He called on Israel to immediately stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Israel's regime is based on apartheid and has helped it escape punishment for years.

A ruling is expected later in January on urgent procedures, but the court will not rule on the genocide charges at the same time.

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.

In a historic event, Israel, the occupying power, appeared on Thursday for the first time before the International Court of Justice in the Dutch city of The Hague, in a lawsuit filed against it by the state of South Africa, accusing it of committing the crime of “genocide” against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The ICJ, based in The Hague, said that it will hold public hearings in the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel regarding its war on the Gaza Strip on January 11 and 12.

Since October 7, 2023, the occupation has launched a devastating aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has led, in an infinite toll, to the death of more than 23,000 Palestinians and the injury of at least 58,000, more than 70% of whom are women and children, and more than 7,000 people among them are missing under the rubble, in addition to the massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented health and humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression.