South Africa's lawyers at the ICJ. Photo: X/@CIJ_ICJ
The Hague: South Africa's allegations that Israel's military operation in Gaza constitutes a state-led campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people were dismissed by Israel on Friday as untrue and "grossly distorted" at the UN's top court.
Israel urged judges to reject South Africa's request to stop its offensive, claiming that doing so would render it defenceless.
South Africa requested on Thursday that judges in The Hague impose emergency measures compelling Israel to immediately cease the offensive. South Africa filed the lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December.
It said that the goal of Israel's aerial and military assault on Gaza was to bring about "the destruction of the population" of the area. According to Gaza health authorities, the offensive has destroyed much of the enclave and killed over 23,000 people, Reuters reported.
Tal Becker, the legal advisor for the Israeli foreign ministry, informed the court that South Africa's account of events was "grossly distorted."
“If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel,” he said. “Hamas seeks genocide against Israel.”
"Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" is the definition of genocide given by the 1948 Genocide Convention, which was passed in the wake of the mass murder of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust.
Following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which has vowed to destroy Israel, Israel began its war in Gaza. 1,200 individuals were killed, mostly civilians, according to Israeli sources, while 240 were captured and sent back to Gaza.
“The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas’ strategy,” Becker said, saying that Israel had a right to defend itself.
Israeli accusations that Hamas's fighters conceal themselves among Gaza's civilian population, who account for most of the casualties in Gaza, are refuted by Hamas.
“Israel is in a war of defense against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people,” Becker said. “The key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking.”
Genocide
According to Israel, this means the court lacks authority to order it to stop its military operations in Gaza under the Genocide Convention.
“This is no genocide, South Africa tells us only half the story,” lawyer Malcolm Shaw said.
It is anticipated that the court will make a decision later this month regarding possible emergency measures; however, the claims of genocide will not be resolved at that time. Such procedures can take several years. Although the ICJ's rulings are final and cannot be appealed, the court does not have any way to enforce them.
Israel alleges that South Africa was serving as a spokesman for Islamist Hamas, a group that is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, the UK, the EU, and many other countries. The accusation has been refuted by South Africa.
Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been forced from their homes at least once since Israeli forces began their offensive, creating a humanitarian crisis.
Post apartheid South Africa has historically backed the Palestinian cause; this alliance was established when Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation aided the African National Congress in its fight against white-minority government.
“My grandfather always regarded the Palestinian struggle as the greatest moral issue of our time,” Mandla Mandela, a grandson of the late South Africa president Nelson Mandela, said at a rally in support of the Palestinians in Cape Town.