By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – An Australian legal and human rights group has urged the government to support South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), in a letter, urged Canberra to "provide full support" to South Africa's application at ICJ against Israel over alleged "genocide" of Palestinian people in Gaza.

The letter was jointly addressed to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the country's attorney-general.

The Australian government should "issue a public statement in support of South Africa’s application which should emphasize its respect for the ICJ and demonstrate that it is aware of its own responsibilities under the Genocide Convention to take all reasonable steps to prevent genocide," the ACIJ said on Tuesday.

South Africa filed the lawsuit on Dec. 29 claiming that Israel violated the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide with its actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, requesting an injunction.

Hearings in the case are set to take place at The Hague from Thursday.

Türkiye, Bolivia and Malaysia have already signaled support for the case.

Australia is among the countries where dozens of massive protest rallies have been held since Oct. 07 to support Palestinians.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 23,210 Palestinians, and injuring 59,167 others, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid