Israel seeks dismissal of South Africa's case at UN court alleging genocide in Gaza

Israel asked the United Nations' International Court of Justice on January 12 to dismiss a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of committing the crime of genocide with its ongoing military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On December 29, South Africa became the first country to file a suit against Israel alleging that its operations in Gaza constitute genocide, CBS News reports.

During January 11 opening session, South Africa laid out its allegations and asked the court to order an immediate halt to Israel's military operations in Gaza.

Israel has staunchly rejected the accusation of genocide, insisting that it is acting within its right to self-defense after the Palestinian militant group Hamas' unprecedented October 7 terror attack and accusing South Africa of "brazen gall" in bringing the case, which it has dismissed as a "false and baseless" defense of Hamas.

Israel, giving its first formal response to the allegations at the ICJ in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 12, asked the court to dismiss the case, which its lawyers said was based on "grossly distorted" accusations.

Police in The Hague kept rival pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters apart outside the court as they marched through the streets on January 11, as the case opened. There was no violence, but it was tense as some of the opposing demonstrators chanted and shouted in each others' faces.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 23,700 people have been killed during the Israeli offensive sparked by Hamas' attack, which Israel says left about 1,400 people dead and saw the Palestinian group kidnap more than 200 others. Hamas officials do not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.

What is the crime of genocide?

The crime of genocide was codified in international law by a convention signed by 150 United Nations member states in 1948. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, commonly referred to simply as the Genocide Convention, defines it as "a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part."

Under the convention, genocide can occur "both in time of war as well as in time of peace."

Like the UN itself, the Genocide Convention came into being as part of the global response to World War II and the atrocities committed against European Jews by Nazi Germany.

What is South Africa's argument against Israel?

South Africa presented its case on January 12 and the country's lawyers asked the ICJ judges to impose a binding preliminary order on Israel to halt all military operations in Gaza.

South Africa has recruited some of the country's most prestigious legal minds to argue that no armed attack on a state, even if that attack includes atrocity crimes, such as Hamas' October 7 rampage in southern Israel, can justify violating the Genocide Convention.

"The 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over one million children, are extremely vulnerable. There is a grave threat to their existence," South Africa alleges in an 84-page document laying out its case, adding that the Gazans "are in urgent and severe need of the court's protection."

"One Palestinian child in Gaza has been killed approximately every 15 minutes since Israel commenced military action," the document states, repeating a frequent plea from health officials in the Hamas-run territory that "thousands more are missing under the rubble."

The document alleges that every day brings another significant loss of life and property, with grave human rights violations being committed. It claims "clear, repeated, dehumanizing statements by Israeli government and military officials which encourage the complete destruction of Gaza."

"South Africa contends that Israeli decision-makers have articulated a clear intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group as such," the document states, adding that Israeli officials' remarks "constitute clear, direct and public incitement to genocide which has gone unchecked and unpunished."

Thousands of miles away, South Africa's government framed the case as a broader battle over the decades of strife between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors.

"The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023," said South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. "The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years."

Israel's reaction

"This is no genocide," lawyer Malcolm Shaw said in the court on January 12, representing the Israeli government.

"The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas' strategy," Israeli foreign ministry legal adviser Tal Becker added. "If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel...Hamas seeks genocide against Israel."

At a press conference earlier this week, after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel's President Hertzog said there was "nothing more atrocious and preposterous" than the case brought by South Africa. He vowed that Israel would "present proudly our case of using self-defense under our most inherent right under international humanitarian law."

"Every single UN agency and body has been weaponized against Israel, and South Africa's baseless and libelous case at the ICJ proves this exactly," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the General Assembly this week.

In a statement issued on January 11, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat slammed South Africa's case as "one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history, compounded by a series of false and baseless claims."

"South Africa, which is functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organization, utterly distorted the reality in Gaza following the October 7 massacre and completely ignored the fact that Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdered, executed, massacred, raped and abducted Israeli citizens, simply because they were Israelis, in an attempt to carry out genocide," said Haiat.

"We are fighting terrorists, and we are fighting lies," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "Today, again, we saw an upside down world, in which the State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide."