The International Court of Justice in The Hague has held a hearing to consider provisional measures in a lawsuit filed by South Africa against the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The case sets a precedent as the first at the ICJ relating to the war on the Gaza Strip, where thousands of people have been killed since October 7, 2023.
Pretoria accuses Israel of committing genocide in contravention of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, to which both South Africa and the Israeli regime are signatories.
South Africa says that the killing of civilians in large numbers, especially children, the expulsion and displacement of Palestinians en masse, and the destruction of their homes, and statements by several Israeli officials, portraying Palestinians as sub-humans, is in contravention of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Israel’s conduct violates articles 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, of the convention.
The first genocidal act committed by Israel is the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza, in violation of article 2a of the Genocide Convention.
Adila Hassim, Legal Representative of South Africa
It’s an application that’s split into two sections, one is the intent to commit genocide and the second one deals with the actual acts of genocide.
And many international legal scholars, and others, have indicated that it’s very difficult for Israel to effectively answer to these cases without having to concede that their actions are, indeed, in violation of the Geneva Convention.
Tashreeq Truebody, Journalist, Cape Town
Collective punishment constitutes genocide and shows proof of intent. Evidence submitted by South Africa says acts and omissions by Israel are genocidal in character because they’re intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.
This refers both to what Israel is actively doing, such as carrying out airstrikes, and what it is failing to do, such as preventing harm to civilians.
Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated places in the world, is home to approximately 2.3 million Palestinians, almost half of them children.
For the past 96 days, Israel has subjected Gaza to what has been described as one of the heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in the history of modern warfare.
Palestinians in Gaza are being killed by Israeli weaponry and bombs from air, land, and sea.
Adila Hassim, Legal Representative of South Africa
The lawsuit also lists the blockade on food and the destruction of essential health services for pregnant women and babies, as measures taken by Tel Aviv, intended to bring about their destruction as a group.
The Organization of Islamic countries, the Arab League, Iran, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, as well as a number of other countries have also supported South Africa’s decision to file the case against Israel.
Iran has urged international bodies and agencies, including the UN Security Council, to adopt immediate and practical steps aimed at the complete cessation of Israeli military strikes in Gaza.
For people of my age who were brought up in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and to see them leading the charge against Israel was really poignant.
So there’s a lot riding on this, obviously, the lives and well being of people in Gaza first and foremost, but international law itself is on trial here and I think the court has to know that.
Clare Daly, MEP
A separate case is ongoing at the International Criminal Court. Both courts are located in The Hague, Netherlands. While the purpose of the ICJ is to resolve conflicts between political regimes; the ICC prosecutes individuals for committing crimes.
This could be a turning point, this could be a moment where the world rises up in one voice and says, in very emphatic terms that is supposed to embody justice and equality and the rule of law, that these actions by Israel amount to genocide, torture, and something that we have not witnessed, I think, in the history of mankind.
Adila Hassim, Legal Representative of South Africa
Under international law, genocide is defined as committing one or more acts with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
There is also the clear pattern of conduct, the targeting of family homes and civilian infrastructure, laying waste to vast areas of Gaza and the bombing, shelling, and sniping of men, women and children where they stand, the destruction of the health infrastructure and lack of access to humanitarian assistance.
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Legal Representative of South Africa
The gruesome scenes of death and destruction in Gaza are a reminder that for Israel violence is not incidental, accidental or coincidental. It is part and parcel of its colonial policies.
For decades, Israel has used disproportionate force and has carried out countless massacres against Palestinian civilians as a form of revenge and mass punishment.
Most of the 2.3 million population of Gaza have also been displaced since October 7, with aid agencies warning of the risk of famine amid mounting hunger in the 365 square kilometer territory.
Israel’s conduct has been deliberately calculated to cause widespread hunger, dehydration, and, starvation.
Israel’s campaign has pushed Gazans to the brink of famine; an unprecedented 93% of the population in Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger and removing the ability to distribute aid through constant (bombardment).
Adila Hassim, Legal Representative of South Africa
Gaza has been under Israeli blockade since 2007. Recent UN General Assembly votes show that most of the international community is appalled by Israel’s brutalization of Gaza yet appears and unable to act.
Throughout the past seven decades, Israel has controlled the Palestinian territories, in part, to colonize them through hundreds of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land, in part, to hold their population hostage until their leaders accept Tel Aviv’s political diktat.
The Israeli oppression of Palestinians had already witnessed a sharp rise under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition cabinet, which is composed of far right Zionist parties that oppose Palestinian statehood and support the expansion of settlements in the occupied lands.
