On Friday, South Africa submitted a request to the International Court of Justice to initiate proceedings against Israel for carrying out acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the international court announced.

South Africa asserted that “Israel’s actions and omissions bear the character of genocide because they are accompanied by the requisite specific intent to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza as part of the broader national, racial and ethnic group, that is, the Palestinians,” the International Court of Justice said in a statement.