South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands to initiate procedures against Israel for carrying out acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the World Court announced in a statement on Friday.

The World Court said that South Africa stressed that Israel’s actions bear the character of genocide because they are accompanied by the specific intent required to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza.

It asked the court to issue measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, which it said were “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.”