Israel’s lawyers have told the United Nations’ highest court that the country has the right to launch a large-scale offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza to defend itself against the Palestinian group Hamas, after the South Africa has filed an urgent request to order a ceasefire as part of a broader case accusing Israel of genocide.
“The fact remains that the city of Rafah also serves as a military stronghold for Hamas, which continues to pose a significant threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” said Gilad Noam, deputy attorney general of Israel responsible for international law, at the International Court. of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday.
Noam accused South Africa of “making a mockery of the heinous accusation of genocide”, accusing the country of “adopting a strategy of dragging Israel through the courts endlessly” and of having an “ulterior motive” to encourage Israel to withdraw from Rafah to obtain “a military advantage for its ally Hamas, which it does not want to see defeated”.
Reporting from The Hague, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Step Vaessen said the hearing had been “unusual”, with a German judge asking Israel to submit a written response to a request for information on humanitarian conditions in its ” evacuation zones” declared in Gaza by the following day. .
Adding to the “strong emotions” of the audience, a woman shouted “Liars, liars!” to the Israeli legal representative from the public gallery, Vaessen said.
“South Africa says this is now the last chance for the court to save the people of Gaza and Rafah,” she said.
South Africa on Thursday asked the ICJ to order Israel to end its offensive on Rafah, from where the UN says at least 630,000 displaced civilians have been forced to flee after seeking refuge from bombings across the besieged enclave.
The lawyers asked the ICJ to issue three emergency orders, or “provisional measures,” while it rules on the broader charge that Israel is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, senior deputy legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said Israel was making “remarkable efforts” to improve aid delivery, denying it closed the two main southern Gaza crossings – the Rafah border post with Egypt, which he seized. on May 7, launching an assault on the city and the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing with Israel.
“It’s patently false,” she said during Friday’s hearing. “The truth is that Israel allows and facilitates the daily delivery of increasing humanitarian aid through a number of crossing points. »
From Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said U.N. officials confirmed no aid had arrived through either crossing point .
Marc Owen Jones, associate professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said he believed South Africa’s arguments were strong enough for the court to issue additional interim measures in Gaza, given that humanitarian conditions have only worsened following the court’s decision. previous orders for Israel to authorize the delivery of aid.
“Months have passed and the aid situation is desperate,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Although a decision on the emergency measures is expected next week, it will likely be years before the court can rule on the underlying genocide charge.
“Genocidal” consequences
ICJ judges on Thursday heard multiple accusations against Israel from lawyers representing South Africa, relating to mass graves, torture and deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.
South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court that Israel was continuing its attacks in Rafah despite “explicit warnings” that they could have “genocidal” consequences.
South Africa asked the court to order Israel to “immediately” cease all military operations in Gaza, including Rafah, and to withdraw from the territory. He also wants Israel to permit humanitarian access, allow unfettered access to U.N. officials, aid groups, journalists and investigators, and report on its progress in carrying out those orders.
This is the third time the ICJ has held hearings into Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza since South Africa initiated genocide proceedings in December.
In January, judges ordered Israel to do everything possible to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, and to allow humanitarian aid to the enclave. But he did not go so far as to order an end to the military offensive.
ICJ judges have broad powers to order a ceasefire and other measures, although the court does not have its own enforcement apparatus. A 2022 court order demanding that Russia end its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has so far gone unheeded.
