Israel denies SA charges of genocide in Gaza at ICJ

The Hague/Washington: Rejecting South Africa’s charge that it was committing genocide in Gaza, Israel today told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it was in a war of defence against Hamas, and “not against the Palestinian people”.

On the second and final day of preliminary hearings at the ICJ today, Israel’s legal team claimed the military action was an actor of “self-defence” which aimed at eradicating the threat posed by Hamas militants and to free some 136 hostages still held by Hamas.

“There is no genocidal intent here, this is no genocide,” said Israel counsel Malcolm Shaw. Hamas atrocities “do not justify violations of the law in reply – still less genocide – but they do justify…the exercise of the legitimate and inherent right of a State to defend itself as enshrined in the UN Charter,”Israel coagent Tal Becker told judges at the ICJ. He said that Israel’s attack was in the aftermath of Hamas-led terror attacks on its citizens on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militants slaughtered some 1,200 people and took around 250 captive across southern Israel.  He rejected South Africa’s petition to the court under the provisions of the Genocide Convention to issue “provisional measures” to order Israel to immediately suspend its military campaign in Gaza. He contended that this was “an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligations to the defence of its citizens, to the hostages and to over 110,000 displaced Israelis unable to safely return to their homes”.

Also read: Before ICJ hearing, US terms SA’s charge of genocide against Israel “meritless”

Yesterday, after the ICJ took up the case moved by South Africa concerning “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)”, South Africa contended that the genocidal acts and omissions by Israel “inevitably form part of a continuum”, of illegal acts perpetrated against the Palestinian people since 1948. It argued that at this provisional measures stage, it was not necessary for the Court to come to a final view on the question of whether Israel’s conduct constitutes genocide. It is necessary to establish only “whether . . . at least some of the acts alleged . . . are capable of falling within the provisions of the Convention”19. “On analysing the specific and ongoing genocidal acts complained of, it is clear that at least some, if not all, of these acts fall within the Convention’s provisions,” South Africa’s,” Dr. Adila Hassim, one of the six legal counsels representing South Africa, told the court while providing an overview of the risk of genocidal acts and the perpetual vulnerability to acts of genocide.

The public hearings concluded today and the Court’s decision will be delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course.

Meanwhile, since in 2022, the United States had filed a brief of intervention in Ukraine’s case against Russia in the ICJ,  a question was raised why it wouldn’t do the same in support of South Africa during a State Department press conference in Washington last night (IST). A State Department spokesperson responded saying that in the case of genocide and this ongoing case in front of the ICJ, the US believed that those claims were unfounded and that making such a claim “needs to take place with such great care”.

When asked that since the US was the biggest supplier of military aid to Israel, was there any concern that it might be involved in any possible war crimes by Israel, the spokesperson said the US “made clear to any country in which we have this kind of security relationship with that international human rights must be respected and followed, and this of course is no different.  And we’ve made that clear to the Israelis that, again, steps need to be taken as often and as frequently and as strongly as possible to minimize this conflict’s impact on civilians”.  

– global bihari bureau

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