South Africa's genocide case against Israel, explained
South Africa embroiled itself into a major legal battle with Israel when it filed a petition at the International Court of Justice and called on the body to investigate whether Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians since it began its latest assault on Gaza.
The 84-page application is the most significant call for Israel's actions to be labelled a genocide, and comes as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 23,000, with the majority of the recorded fatalities being women and children.
The application says Israel's actions are "genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."
Israel has rejected the filing, calling it a "blood libel" - a reference to antisemitic lies that originated in the Middle Ages that Jews murdered Christian boys to use their blood for religious rituals.
Middle East Eye has broken down the application's main points and explains what impact a decision from the international court could have.