CAPE TOWN, August 29, 2026 (WAFA) — South Africa has submitted a substantial dossier of information to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning Israel’s non-compliance with the Court’s provisional measures in the genocide case brought against Israel.

According to a statement by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the dossier was submitted on August 25 pursuant to Article 11 of the ICJ’s Internal Judicial Practice, which provides for the examination of information supplied by the parties regarding provisional measures. 

South Africa stressed that the ICJ’s provisional measures are legally binding and said Israel has regrettably failed to comply with them. It said it would continue pursuing all available avenues to secure Israel’s full and immediate compliance with the Court’s orders. 

The ICJ issued provisional measures in January, March and May 2024 in the case brought by South Africa under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The Court ordered Israel, among other measures, to take all measures within its power to prevent acts falling under the Convention and to facilitate urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. 

South Africa filed its genocide case against Israel on December 29, 2023, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza. The case on the merits remains pending before the ICJ. 

The South African government said the provisional measures are intended to protect Palestinians’ rights under the Genocide Convention and prevent those rights from being irreparably prejudiced before the Court issues its final judgment.

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South Africa submits dossier to ICJ over Israel’s non-compliance with provisional measures

Source: Xinhua| 2026-08-29 21:51:30|Editor: huaxia

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) — South Africa has submitted a dossier to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning Israel’s non-compliance with provisional measures previously ordered by the court, according to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

The dossier was submitted on Aug. 25 to assist a committee of judges responsible for monitoring the implementation of the provisional measures and recommending possible options to the court, said a statement issued by the department on Friday.

The ICJ has issued three legally binding provisional measures orders against Israel aimed at protecting the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention, but Israel has not complied with the orders, the statement said, adding that South Africa would continue to pursue all available avenues to seek Israel’s full and immediate compliance.

The statement said Palestinians in Gaza continue to be deprived of water, adequate healthcare, medicine and other essential resources for survival.

It accused Israel of bombarding Gaza, causing mass casualties and displacement, and of arbitrarily detaining and deporting Palestinians.

South Africa submitted letters enclosing public dossiers of evidence to the United Nations Security Council in May 2024, February 2025 and September 2025, urging action to ensure Israel’s compliance with the court’s provisional measures, according to the statement.

In December 2023, South Africa filed a case before the ICJ against Israel over alleged acts of genocide in Gaza. The ICJ has yet to deliver a final ruling in the case.

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South Africa accuses Israel of violating ICJ’s legally binding provisional measures

Pretoria submits evidence to a dedicated judicial committee, arguing that the ongoing defiance of the court’s mandates undermines its legitimacy

MEE staff – Published date: 30 August 2026

South Africa has accused Israel of breaking legally binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) intended to protect Palestinians in Gaza, while calling on the international community “to take all necessary action to prevent and punish genocide”.

In a statement issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Pretoria said that Israel has refused to comply with three separate provisional measure orders issued by the ICJ. This refusal “undermines their protective function and entails further destruction of the Palestinian group”, the statement says.

“The Provisional Measures were not only ordered to protect the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, they also safeguard the administration of justice and the legitimacy of the ICJ itself, by ensuring that the rights the Court is called upon to vindicate are not destroyed before it renders its final decision.” 

The statement added: “The Court’s orders are binding on Israel, and the international community also has an obligation to protect the Palestinian people from genocide, including to take all necessary action to prevent and punish genocide.” 

Earlier this week, the South African government submitted a dossier of evidence to a dedicated committee of judges tasked with monitoring the court’s provisional measures.

Issued in 2024, the three provisional orders issued by the ICJ against Israel include the prevention of genocidal acts and incitement, ceasing military operations in Rafah and providing immediate access for Palestinians to humanitarian assistance and basic services in the Gaza Strip. 

The provisional orders also mandated Israel to submit formal reports to the court detailing steps it has taken to comply, which it did in February 2024. 

Under Article 11 of the ICJ’s Internal Judicial Practice, the committee examines information supplied by parties and recommends potential options to the broader court.

The South African government emphasised that the measures “safeguard the administration of justice and the legitimacy of the ICJ itself, by ensuring that the rights the Court is called upon to vindicate are not destroyed before it renders its final decision”.

Pretoria’s dossier highlights the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, noting that as of August 2026, at least 73,407 Palestinians have been killed and 174,335 others wounded since 7 October 2023, representing more than 10 percent of Gaza’s entire population.

Among the survivors, an estimated 46,000 Palestinians, including children, are living with severe conflict-related conditions such as amputations and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

The submission also notes that since the announcement of a ceasefire, the Israeli military has continued to kill an average of one Palestinian child every day and that the trauma and unbearable living conditions in Gaza’s ever-shrinking territorial enclaves have caused Palestinian miscarriage rates to increase more than three-fold in 2026. 

Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq has welcomed South Africa’s submission to the ICJ documenting Israel’s non-compliance with the provisional orders. 

“As the genocide continues, we call on the Court to act propio motu, including through additional Provisional Measures Orders,” the organisation said.

Erasing the record

South Africa’s government emphasised that the ICJ’s orders are strictly binding and that the international community bears a collective obligation to take all necessary action to prevent and punish genocide.

“For almost three years, Israel has bombarded Gaza, killing and maiming tens of thousands of children, men and women,” the DIRCO statement reads.

It noted that Israeli forces have arbitrarily detained and deported Palestinians to prisons and detention centres where they face torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 

Pretoria also accused Israel of actively attempting to suppress evidence of its crimes by killing local journalists, barring foreign media and preventing UN-mandated investigative bodies from entering the besieged territory.

South Africa made history as the first country to formally file a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ in December 2023.

The August 2026 dossier is the latest in a sustained legal and diplomatic campaign by South Africa to seek Israel’s full and immediate compliance on the global stage.

Pretoria previously submitted extensive public dossiers of evidence to the United Nations Security Council in May 2024, February 2025 and September 2025, urging member states to urgently act to prevent and punish genocide.

Similar dossiers focusing on the deliberate use of starvation were submitted to the UN General Assembly and the UN Economic and Social Council in October 2025, requesting urgent intervention under Article VIII of the Genocide Convention.