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THE HAGUE–South Africa argued Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday morning on the first day of a historic legal proceeding that could influence the fate of millions in the Gaza Strip.
In the hours-long proceeding, lawyers representing South Africa used Israeli leaders’ own statements and corresponding actions to argue it is “intentionally engaging in the extermination, in whole or in part, of an entire ethnic group,” according to the 1948 Genocide Convention’s definition of genocide. If the judges rule in South Africa’s favor, Israel could be forced to halt its military assault.
What you need to know
- “The first Genocidal act committed by Israel is the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza, in violation of article 2a of the Genocide Convention,” says Adila Hassim SC, a human rights lawyer based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Lawyers for South Africa made their case accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the International Court of Justice Thursday.
- South Africa is urging the ICJ to place an emergency order against Israel to prevent it from continuing its attacks in Gaza.
- The ICJ is the highest court at the United Nations. Both countries are parties to the court, and its rulings are legally binding. However, it’s up to the members of the UN Security Council to enforce the rulings.
- The U.S. calls South Africa’s claims “meritless”. Israel will make its defense on Friday.
“The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years,” South Africa Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told the ICJ’s 15 judges.
Over 23,000 Palestinians, or roughly 1 percent of the entire Gaza population, have been killed by Israel Defense Forces since October 7, with over half of them women and children.
Israel’s response “crossed the line”
The IDF bombardment of Gaza and the forced displacement of millions of residents from northern Gaza came as a response to an attack Hamas launched on neighboring Israeli communities on Oct. 7. Up to 1,200 people were killed, some of them by the IDF, and 240 were taken hostage. Hamas cited the decades of brutal occupation as a reason for their surprise attack.
In turn, Israel has launched bombs on the Gaza Strip with more power than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
“No armed attack on a staged territory, no matter how serious, even an attack involving atrocity crimes, can provide any justification for or defense to breaches to the [1948 Genocide] Convention,” Lamola told the ICJ Thursday. “Israel’s response to the 7th of October, 2023 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the Convention.”
According to the Human Rights Watch. Israel is depriving Gaza of food, energy and fresh water, while blocking off most humanitarian aid.
South Africa noted:
They are also at immediate risk of death by starvation, dehydration and disease, as a result of the ongoing siege by Israel, the destruction of Palestinian towns, the insufficient aid being allowed through to the Palestinian population, and the impossibility of distributing this limited aid while bombs fall.
Adila Hassim SC, a human rights lawyer based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Israel, U.S. deny South Africa’s allegations
Meanwhile, Israel will make its defense on Friday in front of the ICJ.
Hours before South Africa appeared at the ICJ, Israel’s Prime Minister stated the following:
Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to the Times of Israel.
It marks his first speech in English since Oct. 7 in an apparent attempt to appeal to the West.
Notably, several top level Israeli officials have come under fire in recent weeks for comments calling for the extermination for all of Gaza. One minister was temporarily suspended after he suggested nuking Gaza and all its citizens.
South Africa and Israel trade arguments at ICJ
Notably, the United States remains isolated on the world stage as one of the few countries supplying weapons to Israel and refusing to support worldwide calls for a ceasefire.
“We don’t find the South African claim to have any merit, and frankly, we believe it’s counterproductive,” U.S. National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby told The Black Wall Street Times last week.
Kirby and other U.S. officials have publicly called for Israel to reduce the number of civilian casualties. According to the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ), the IDF has killed more journalists than any other conflict in recent history.
As of January 11, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 79 journalists and media workers were among the more than 24,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 22,800 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.
Committee to Protect Journalist
However, Israeli officials say it’s simply doing what it must do to defend itself against Hamas in the heavily blockaded and resource-deprived territory of the Gaza Strip, an assertion South Africa categorically rejects.
“The Israeli Defense Forces are not waking up every morning and heading into the fight thinking that they want to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. They want to wipe the threat of Hamas off the map,” Kirby said.
Millions around the world also disagree.
What happens next
“Watching African men and women fighting to save humanity & the Int’l legal system against the ruthless attacks supported/enabled by most of the West will remain one of the defining images of our time,” Francesca Albanese, a former UN official and Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories said on X (formerly Twitter). “This will make history whatever happens.”
It’s unclear whether the UN Security Council (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) will act on the ICJ’s ruling if it decides South Africa is correct in accusing Israel of genocide.
Experts say the decision on whether Israel is committing genocide could take years, but an emergency order to halt further attacks could come as early as next week.
Between his 1994 Crime Bill which put millions of black men in prison, his about face regarding voting rights and police reform, and his direct aiding and abetting in the genocide of black and brown people around the world (Yemen and Gaza for starters), I do not understand how any black person could support Joe Biden.
Yes, Biden has awful record on criminal Justice. He has made some changes like pardon of low-level federal drug charges.
I think when it comes to Israel, however, never end support from Democrats and Republicans will not depend who is office. Trump. Biden. All will ignore Palestine. Sad.