For South Africa Israel “has committed and continues to commit acts of genocide” in Gaza. Now it’s the defense’s turn

Brussels – An accusation with a long history: from the 1948 Nakba to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories after the 1967 Six-Day War to the more recent closure of the Gaza Strip in 2007. And ending with the shocking numbers of over 23,000 dead as a result of the bombings in the past three months. For South Africa, “Israel has committed, is committing, and wants to continue committing acts of genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza.”

In the first of the two hearings to determine the admissibility of the case that Pretoria submitted to the International Court of Justice, the South African legal team pointed the finger primarily at the extent of the devastation in Gaza and the “dehumanizing” rhetoric increasingly used by members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. There were eight speeches to convince the 17 Hague-based judges, 15 appointed by the United Nations and one from each disputing state, that Israel violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

As South Africa’s Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, pointed out, “no attack, no matter how serious, can justify a violation of the Convention, either in law or morality,” and “Israel has crossed this line and violated the Genocide Convention.” The 87-year-old lawyer John Dugard, one of the constituent fathers of post-apartheid South Africa, called the Gaza Strip “a concentration camp where genocide is taking place.”

In an 84-page document, the Pretoria legal team gathered evidence of killings, severe mental and physical harm, forced evacuations, and widespread starvation. Of the creation, that is, of “conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction” of the Palestinian people, the lawyer Adila Hassim explained. Palestinians in Gaza “are killed in their homes, in places where they seek refuge, in hospitals, in schools, in mosques, in churches,” Hassim said in addressing the judges. “The level of killing is so extensive that bodies found buried in mass graves often go unidentified.” In his remarks, attorney Tembeka Ngcukaitobi focused on the “genocidal rhetoric,” citing the words of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security Minister Ben Gvir. “We are fighting against human animals” and “There are no uninvolved civilians in Gaza” are the two phrases targeted by the accusation.

While the hearing was underway, several national governments supported the South African initiative. In addition to the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Bolivia, Namibia, Brazil, and Cuba also gave their support, while the government of Chile is reportedly already preparing the necessary documents to join the complaint against Israel. In the EU, after the vice-premier of Belgium, Petra De Sutter, said she would propose that the Belgian government “take action at the International Court of Justice, following the example of South Africa“, Slovenia also publicly supported Pretoria. Words of praise also came the major human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and ActionAid.

On the other hand, the United States has already called the proceedings in the Court in The Hague “counterproductive and completely baseless.” The same goes for Germany and Italy, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock clarifying that from Berlin’s point of view, what Israel is doing “is self-defense, not genocide,” and Vice-Premier Antonio Tajani added that “genocide is something else.”

British lawyer Vaughan Lowe specified in court that “at this stage, it is not necessary to determine whether or not Israel has acted contrary to its obligations to the Convention.” It is, however, necessary to impose “urgent precautionary measures.” Israel will present today (January 12) its defense, which is likely to focus on trying to demonstrate that it has taken as many precautions as possible to distinguish military targets from the civilian population.

Israeli delegation at the ICJ (UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek)

In a diplomatic note, Israel reiterated that it is committed to operating “in accordance with international law” by directing its military operations in Gaza “exclusively against Hamas and other terrorist organizations.” It is Hamas that “uses the Palestinian population as human shields” and has therefore “deliberately built its terror infrastructure around and under hospitals, schools, mosques and other civilian sites.”

According to the statement, Israel will also seek to overturn the charge of genocide: “Hamas is committed to the genocide of the Jewish people,” and its charter “calls for the extermination of Jews.” Therefore, ultimately, “by defaming Israel at a time when it is defending itself against those who seek to annihilate it, South Africa has made itself criminally complicit with a terrorist and genocidal organization.”