Israel says South Africa exploiting World Court on behalf of Hamas

Israel on Thursday accused South Africa of exploiting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to help the Islamist militant group Hamas by again petitioning the World Court to take measures against Israel.

"South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel's inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages," Israel's foreign ministry said.

"The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which has already twice rejected the baseless attempts to deny Israel its right and obligation of self-defense," it said.

Officials in South Africa did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

South Africa in January asked the World Court to declare that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and to order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. The court instead issued a more general order that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide.

South Africa is now asking the top U.N. court to order further steps against Israel, which it said was breaching measures already in place. It said those in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees.

"Israel acts and will continue to act in accordance with international law, including by facilitating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, regardless of any legal proceedings," the Israeli ministry said. "We call on the ICJ to reject outright the new request of the representatives of Hamas."

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and included the seizure of 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Israel has pledged to continue its offensive until it eliminates Hamas, which rules Gaza and is sworn to Israel's destruction, and secures the release of more than 130 Israeli hostages still in Gaza.