Gaza genocide case at the ICJ: new submissions and a long road ahead
The case brought by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Genocide Convention continued to generate developments in September 2026. Amnesty International said that South Africa's latest submission to the Court must push states to put pressure on Israel to end what the organisation describes as genocide in Gaza, and to comply with the provisional measures ordered by the Court since January 2024.
Those orders require, among other things, that Israel enable urgent humanitarian assistance and basic services in Gaza and preserve evidence relevant to the case.
The proceedings on the merits will take years. In an order of 21 May 2026, the ICJ set 22 November 2027 as the deadline for South Africa's Reply and 22 May 2029 for Israel's Rejoinder, after South Africa requested at least 18 months to respond to Israel's voluminous Counter-Memorial. Meanwhile, the list of states participating in the case keeps shifting: in late September, Colombia announced that it was withdrawing from the proceedings.
The slowness of international justice contrasts with the urgency on the ground. For human rights organisations, the obligation to prevent genocide does not wait for a final judgment: it applies to every state, now.
Source: UN – ICJ order on time-limits (South Africa v. Israel)