The State of Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that South Africa’s instituting of genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is welcome amid Israel’s attempted “destruction of the Palestinian people”.

Palestinians are suffering under Israel’s “colonial occupation and apartheid regime” and “urgent intervention and actions is needed to protect against further harm”, the ministry said in a statement posted on X.

“The court must immediately take action to protect the Palestinian people and call on Israel, the occupying power, to halt its onslaught,” the ministry added.