Putrajaya, 02 Jan. 2024 (Bernama)

Malaysia welcomes South Africa's application to institute proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the violations to Palestinians in Gaza Strip, said the Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement on Tuesday.

The proceeding against Israel comes under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide (The 'Genocide Convention').

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.

This is in order to protect against further harm to the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, and to ensure Israel's compliance with its obligations under the convention, the statement read.

The legal action against Israel before ICJ is a timely and tangible step towards legal accountability for Israel 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', said Wisma Putra in the statement.

Malaysia reiterates 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, the statement added.

South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Dec 29 for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Hague based ICJ, sometimes known as the World Court, is the United Nations venue for resolving disputes between states.

Tel Aviv condemned South Africa over moving the application, Israel Tuesday decided to appear before the ICJ to “defend” itself against the genocide crime case.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s second-largest multi-national bloc, last Saturday welcomed the suit filed by South Africa against Israel.

It called on the ICJ “to respond expeditiously and take urgent measures to stop this mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli defense forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 22,185 Palestinians and injuring around 58,000 others, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.

Israeli attacks have left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.