Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel displayed unparalleled "morality" in the Gaza war and rejected South Africa's charge that it was committing "genocidal" acts in the Palestinian territory.

"We will continue our defensive war, the justice and morality of which is without peer," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.

His comment came after South Africa launched a case on Friday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for what it said were "genocidal" acts in Gaza.

"No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas," Netanyahu said.

"It would murder all of us if it could. In contrast, the IDF (Israeli army) is acting as morally as possible."

Israel launched a relentless military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian militants carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

The militants' attack left about 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel's ongoing Gaza offensive has killed more than 21,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

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© Agence France-Presse