The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has granted Israel another extension to submit its evidence in response to South Africa’s argument that it has committed genocide in Gaza.
In an order dated 20 October and published on Thursday, the ICJ said it has accepted Israel’s request to further extend its deadline by two months to 12 March 2026, after an earlier extension to 12 January.
The ICJ’s original deadlines for the two states to deliver their written arguments were 28 October 2024 for South Africa and 28 July 2025 for Israel to file its counter-arguments, known as “counter-memorials”.
South Africa complied with its deadline, but Israel in April requested an extension of six months, which South Africa opposed.
The ICJ compromised, granting a five-and-a-half month extension to 12 January 2026.
Israel then sent a letter to the court on 14 October, asking for a second extension of at least five months.
Its representative explained that some evidentiary issues related to South Africa’s submission remained “unresolved” due to “the status of a number of documents referred to via hyperlinks which had not been annexed to that pleading”.
Israel added that another reason for its request relates to its devotion of “significant attention and resources” to engage with the court on the Advisory Opinion on Israel’s humanitarian obligations, which the court delivered on Wedesday.
South Africa urged the court to reject Israel’s request, since the latter had already been granted an extension on the same grounds raised in its latest letter.
“The extension requested would be irreconcilable with the urgency of the case and the principle of equality between the Parties,” the ICJ cited South Africa as saying.
‘Disappointing’
Gerhard Kemp, professor of international criminal law at UWE Bristol Law School, agreed with South Africa’s reaction, and criticised the court’s decision as “disappointing”.
“I think it is disappointing that the ICJ has granted yet another extension to Israel, given the fact that the structure of the alleged genocide has not changed, and even the ceasefire is not changing that and certainly not past events,” he told Middle East Eye.
He noted that Israel had “ample time” since at least October 2024 to submit its response to South Africa’s memorial.
“The main concern of Israel seems to be certain evidentiary matters, but this was known for a year now and South Africa said its case has not changed, so why not answer on the memorial as submitted last year?”
He also argued that given the ongoing nature of the current genocide, the court should deal with it with more urgency.
“Of course, other ICJ genocide cases (on the merits), have taken many years to conclude, but each case must be decided on its own merits and there must be a sense of urgency in this case, given what we see in Gaza and in light of the Advisory Opinion on Israel’s violations of the Geneva Conventions (the humanitarian aid matter),” Kemp said.
On 29 December 2023, South Africa accused Israel, before the ICJ, of breaching the Genocide Convention of 1948.
The subsequent hearing, a couple of weeks later, drew huge attention as Israel’s war was formally challenged on the world stage for the first time since the start of the genocidal war.
For cases of such complexity, the ICJ often takes years to come to a judgement. ICJ experts have previously explained that the judgment is expected to be made by early 2028.
In the interim, South Africa requested that the ICJ issue “provisional measures”, which are orders that bind Israel to refrain from and prevent acts of genocide.
On three occasions, the ICJ has responded with provisional measures against Israel, including on 26 January 2024, on 28 March 2024 and on 24 May 2024.
Meanwhile, a major UN report last month found Israel responsible for genocide in Gaza, in what many say is the most significant report on Israel’s conduct to date.
Source: MEE
