Jeddah, December 30 (QNA) - Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed today South Africa's action of filing a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.
OIC stressed that Israel, the occupying power, is committing a genocide by its indiscriminate targeting of civilian population, killing and injuring tens of thousands of Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, forcibly displacing them, preventing them from obtaining basic needs and humanitarian aid, and destroying buildings and health, educational, and religious institutions.
The organization called on ICJ to respond swiftly and take urgent measures to put an end to the genocide committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In a statement, the ICJ said that South Africa today filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, concerning violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the "Genocide Convention") in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
85 days into its aggression, the Israeli entity continues its bombardment of various parts of the Gaza Strip by air, land, and sea, amidst a worsening humanitarian catastrophe despite United Nations agencies' warnings against the worsening humanitarian and health situation, which are demanding for a cease-fire to allow the delivery of relief aid, which has been deliberately restricted by Israel, at a time when famine is an ever great possibility.
So far, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 21,672 whereas the injured reached 56,165, of whom 70 percent are women and children, in addition to leading to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of homes and the forced displacement of about 2 million people inside the Strip. (QNA)