The Australian | Tiffany Bakker and Adella Beaini | 12.01.24
The UN’s top court has heard how Israel has shown “chilling” and “incontrovertible” intent to commit genocide in Gaza, with full knowledge of how many civilians it is killing. Follow updates.
Israel’s plan to “destroy” Gaza comes from “the highest level of state”, the UN’s top court has heard.
The claims were made by South African lawyers as it presented its case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
South Africa also called on the court to order Israel to cease military operations in Gaza.
Israel – which will present its defence on Friday – has strongly rejected the accusations as “baseless”, “preposterous” and “atrocious”.
The court has accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case.
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a lawyer for the High Court of South Africa, told the ICJ Israel’s “genocidal intent” was evident “from the way in which this military attack is being conducted”.
“The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state,” he said.
“Every day there is mounting, irreparable loss of life, property, dignity, and humanity for the Palestinian people,” Adila Hassim, also representing South Africa, told the court.
“Nothing will stop the suffering, except an order from this court.”
Top lawyer for South Africa Adila Hassim said Israel’s bombing campaign aimed at the “destruction of Palestinian life” and had pushed Palestinians “to the brink of famine”.
“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” she said.
“Israel deployed 6,000 bombs per week … No one is spared. Not even newborns. UN chiefs have described it as a graveyard for children,” she said.
“Nothing will stop the suffering, except an order from this court.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed South Africa over the landmark case, saying it was Israel that was fighting “genocide” committed by Hamas militants.
“The State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement after South Africa lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice accusing it of breaching the UN Genocide Convention.
Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military operations in Gaza.
“No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious … can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention,” said Pretoria’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
“Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,” he added.
The Gaza war erupted when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack, which resulted in about 1,140 people killed in Israel, mostly civilians.
Israel has responded with a relentless military campaign that has killed more than 23,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
A world away from the death and destruction in Gaza and Israel, robed lawyers battled it out over technical legal arguments in the Peace Palace in The Hague.
South Africa argues Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.
As a fellow signatory to the treaty, South Africa can take Israel to the ICJ, which rules on disputes between countries and is often described as the “World Court”.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own historic struggle against the white-minority government, which had cooperative relations with Israel.
South Africa has acknowledged the “particular weight of responsibility” of accusing Israel of genocide. It “unequivocally” condemned the Hamas attacks that sparked off the war in Gaza.
Describing South Africa as the “legal arm” of Hamas, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said Pretoria’s case was “one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history.”
SEE MORE UPDATES BELOW:
OXFAM: ISRAEL KILLING 250 PALESTINIANS PER DAY IN GAZA
This rate of killing makes Israel’s war the deadliest conflict in the 21st century, the humanitarian organisation has said in a recently published report.
The daily death rate in Gaza is higher than that seen in the conflicts in Syria (96.5 deaths per day), Sudan (51.6), Iraq (50.8), Ukraine (43.9) Afghanistan (23.8) and Yemen (15.8), according to the report.
“The scale and atrocities that Israel is visiting upon Gaza are truly shocking. For 100 days the people of Gaza have endured a living hell. Nowhere is safe and the entire population is at risk of famine,” Oxfam’s Middle East director Sally Abi Khalil said.
Source: https://x.com/newsfromoxfam/status/1745424339841822795?s=20