The International Court of Justice said on Tuesday it would issue its ruling in Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates on May 5.

Khartoum has dragged the UAE before the ICJ, accusing it of complicity in genocide by backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battling the Sudanese army since 2023.

The UAE denies supporting the rebels and has dismissed Sudan's case as "political theatre" distracting from efforts to end the war that has killed thousands of people.

Sudan wants ICJ judges to force the UAE to stop its alleged support for the RSF and make "full reparations", including compensation to victims of the war.

Human cost of conflict

Legal experts say Sudan's case may founder on jurisdictional issues.

When the UAE signed up to the Genocide Convention, it entered a "reservation" to a key clause enabling countries to drag each other before the ICJ over disputes.

As robed lawyers wrestle over legal interpretations of jurisdiction in the panelled hall of the Peace Palace, the human cost of the conflict has continued to mount.

Nearly 500 civilians have been confirmed killed in Sudan's North Darfur in recent weeks, the United Nations said last week, condemning "horrifying" numbers of deaths and widespread sexual violence.

World's largest displacement crisis

The UN human rights office said it had listed at least 481 civilians killed in North Darfur since April 10 and that the "actual number is likely much higher."

The state has become a key battleground in the war that erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The war has left thousands of people dead and triggered what aid agencies describe as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Famine has officially hit five areas across Sudan, according to a UN-backed assessment.