“ICJ sets next phase of South Africa’s Gaza genocide case

Hasina Kathrada
3 JUN 2026, 07:57

[…]

Nearly three years after South Africa launched its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the court has set a new timetable that will keep proceedings before judges in The Hague until at least 2029, while the death toll in Gaza continues to climb and the court’s binding provisional measures remain in force.

The [SA; ed.] Presidency announced on Tuesday [2 June; ed.] that the ICJ has given South Africa until 22 November 2027 to file its Reply to Israel’s Counter-Memorial, submitted in March this year. Israel will then have until 22 May 2029 to file a Rejoinder.

The order follows consultations between representatives of the two countries and the President of the Court on the next procedural steps in the case.

South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel in December 2023 under the Genocide Convention, arguing that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians. The case has since become one of the most significant international legal challenges arising from the war.

[…]

No date has been set for oral hearings and a final judgment may still be years away.

[…]

The question facing the international community is no longer only what the court will eventually decide. It is whether international law can provide meaningful protection while the conflict that gave rise to the case is still underway.”

• Full report “ICJ sets next phase of South Africa’s Gaza genocide case” on the website of the Mail & Guardian (last checked in June 2026).
  Re-published by the Namibian on 4 July 2026; last checked in June 2026).

• See also essay “As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel”. Essay by Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov, Brown University, USA, published in the Guardian on 13 August 2024, in the ‘International Context’ section of this website.

• See also report “ICJ says Israel must prevent genocide in Gaza” from 26 January 2024 by BBC in the ‘International Context’ section of this website.

• Note also ICJ’s Order in genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel regarding occupied Palestine of 26 January 2024 in the ‘Primary Sources’ section of this website.