Israel calls on ICJ to reject demands for end of Gaza offensive
Israel on Friday called on the International Court of Justice to reject the demands of South Africa for an immediate end to its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
“The application and request should be rejected for what they are – a libel,” Israel’s foreign ministry legal adviser, Tal Becker, told the ICJ on the second day of hearings on a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of “genocidal acts” in its offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.
South Africa, which filed the lawsuit at the ICJ in December, asked judges on Thursday to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the offensive.
Israel’s military actions in Gaza are acts of self-defense against Hamas and “other terrorist organizations,” Becker said.
He added that South Africa’s interpretation of events was “grossly distorted,” adding that: “If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel.”
By asking the court to order the halt of the Gaza military operation “the applicant seeks to thwart Israel’s inherent right to defend itself… and render Israel defenseless,” he said.
Israel launched its all-out war in Gaza after a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants in which Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed, mainly civilians, and 240 taken hostage back to Gaza.
Palestinian backers with flags marched through The Hague and planned to watch proceedings on a giant screen in front of the Peace Palace. Israeli supporters were holding a gathering of family members of hostages taken by Hamas.
The ICJ’s decisions are final and without appeal – but the court has no way to enforce them.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Since Israeli forces launched their offensive, nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes at least once, causing a humanitarian catastrophe.
Post-apartheid South Africa has long advocated the Palestinian cause, a relationship forged when the African National Congress’ struggle against white-minority rule was cheered on by Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization.
The court is expected to rule on possible emergency measures later this month, but will not rule at that time on the genocide allegations – those proceedings could take years.
