"South Africa had hoped, when it last appeared before this court, that this genocidal process would have been halted, so as to preserve Palestine and its people," Vusimuzi Madonsela, Pretoria's representative, told the UN's highest court. "Instead, Israel's genocide has continued apace and has now reached a new and horrific level," Madonsela said, referring to Israel's ground offensive in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 140,000 Palestinians -- many displaced multiple times during Israel's seven-month war on the Islamist Hamas movement -- had taken refuge. The Israeli operation in Rafah "is the final phase in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people," said Vaughan Lowe, a lawyer for South Africa. Pretoria's lawyers, who are asking the judges to order a ceasefire in Gaza, opened two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands. Israel, which rejects South Africa's accusations, will respond on Friday but has previously stressed its "unwavering" commitment to international law and called South Africa's complaint "totally unfounded" and "morally repugnant." In a January ruling, the ICJ ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any acts of genocide and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. But the court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire, and South Africa now argues that developments on the ground -- particularly the offensive on Rafah -- require the ICJ to speak out again. "As the overwhelming evidence demonstrates, the very manner in which Israel is conducting its military operations in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza is itself genocidal," Pretoria said in its request that the court "order it to stop." The ICJ, which rules on disputes between states, is legally binding, but it has no means of enforcing its rulings. It has, for example, ordered Russia in vain to halt its invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2014. South Africa is asking the ICJ for three new urgent measures while it awaits a decision on the merits of the case: its accusation that Israel is violating the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. First, it wants the court to order Israel to "immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive" in Rafah. Israel must also take "all effective measures" to allow "unimpeded access" to Gaza for humanitarian workers, journalists and investigators. Finally, Pretoria is asking the ICJ to ensure that Israel reports back on the steps it has taken to comply with the court's orders. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says that "600,000 people have fled Rafah since the intensification of military operations." "As the main hub for humanitarian assistance to Gaza, if Rafah falls, Gaza falls," South Africa said in its request. "By attacking Rafah, Israel is attacking the 'last refuge' in Gaza and the only remaining area of the Gaza Strip that has not yet been totally destroyed by Israel," it added. Pretoria stressed that the only way to implement the court's existing orders would be a "permanent ceasefire in Gaza." Israel launched its war on Gaza on July 8 last year in a bid to root out Hamas after the group carried out a wave of deadly attacks inside Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, the vast majority of them civilians. In power in Gaza since 2007 and considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, Hamas is also holding more than 250 hostages, 128 of whom remain captive and 36 have died in captivity, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military. The war, now in its 223rd day and threatening to spill over into a wider conflict in the Middle East, has killed at least 35,272 people in Gaza, wounded more than 79,000 and left around 10,000 missing, presumed buried in the rubble, the vast majority of them civilians, according to updated figures from local authorities. The conflict has also displaced close to two million people, plunging the impoverished and densely populated territory into a severe humanitarian crisis, with more than 1.1 million people facing "catastrophic levels of food insecurity" that the UN says is "the highest level ever recorded" in its food security surveys worldwide. Read Also: Buscas à Porto Comercial e à loja do Dragão ligadas a Operação Pretoriano (Portuguese version)