The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) praised South Africa’s plea, in which Israel was accused before the International Court of Justice of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In return, Israel accused South Africa of being the “legal arm” of Hamas.
Today, Thursday, the International Court of Justice adjourned its first session after hearing South Africa’s plea, in which it demanded an immediate halt to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, presenting a set of indicators regarding these operations, and how they amount to genocide.
Ammar Hijazi, Palestinian Assistant Foreign Minister, said that the discussions of the International Court of Justice once again put the world before the reality of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, including the current genocide, in addition to all the violations for 75 years.
For his part, the leader of the Hamas movement, Izzat al-Rishq, said, “The movement highly values and appreciates the plea made by the legal team of the State of South Africa in the International Court of Justice, and the arguments, evidence, and documented evidence contained therein, proving before the entire world the involvement of the Israeli occupation in committing crimes of genocide.” Collective and ethnic cleansing of our people in the Gaza Strip.”
Al-Rishq added, “The State of South Africa once again proves the originality of its principled position in supporting our Palestinian people and the justice of their cause, and its rejection of the brutal crimes of the occupation against our people and their legitimate national rights.”
Before the International Court of Justice, former head of the British Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, told Tel Aviv Tribune that “Israel is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
In turn, the United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said, “The call for a ceasefire in Gaza is the minimum decision that the International Court of Justice must take to prevent the killing of more civilians in Gaza.”
The UN official added that Israel has the right to protect itself, but it must take international law into account when doing so.
South African advocacy
The South African legal team said that Israel has intensified its crimes against the Palestinians since 1948, and that it is subjecting the Palestinians to an apartheid regime, adding that the international community has failed to prevent genocide in Gaza.
He pointed out that Israel’s actions in the Gaza war indicate an intention to commit genocide, and that hundreds of families in Gaza were completely killed, with no individual left alive.
The South African legal team added that Israel deliberately creates conditions that deprive Palestinians of shelter and clean water, and it also deliberately imposed conditions in Gaza that prevent the living and physical destruction of Palestinians.
The Minister of Justice in South Africa said, “The Palestinians are subjected to non-stop bombing wherever they go, and they are killed everywhere they turn,” stressing that Israel launched a major attack on Gaza and violated the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.
Israeli anger
On the other hand, the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that what happened in The Hague represented the greatest hypocrisy in history, and that it was based on baseless slander and lies, as it described it. She added that South Africa plays the role of the “judicial arm” in the service of Hamas, as she put it.
In turn, the US State Department said that “allegations that Israel is committing genocide are baseless.” She added in a statement that those who violently attack Israel are in fact the ones who continue to explicitly call for wiping it off the map and killing Jews en masse, as the statement described.
The US State Department statement stressed what it described as Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ “terrorist” actions.
Israel had agreed to appear before the court in order to refute what it described as “ridiculous accusations that lack any factual or legal basis.”
But the Israeli press confirmed that there is a serious fear in the Israeli security institutions and the Public Prosecution Office that the International Court of Justice will charge Israel with genocide.
Course of the case
The hearings will address South Africa’s demand to impose emergency measures and force Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza, while the court will consider the merits of the case, a process that may take years.
In the 84-page lawsuit, South Africa states that Israel failed to provide basic food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter and other humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Strip.
A panel of 17 judges – including two judges from Israel and South Africa – will hear 3 hours of arguments for each side, and a ruling on the interim measures is expected later this month. The rulings of the International Court of Justice are binding, but the court does not have the power to implement them.
In an indication of the weight of the term genocide, Israel sent a former Supreme Court judge who had survived the Holocaust, which occurred before the signing of the Genocide Convention. South Africa will appoint a judge who spent 10 years on Robben Island during his youth, where he met former South African President Nelson. Mandela.
Another court in The Hague – the International Criminal Court – is separately investigating charges of atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank, and the October 7 attack on Israel, but has not named any suspects. Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction. Judicial.
Arabic support
In turn, the League of Arab States affirmed its full support and endorsement of the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of committing genocide and violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, expressing its aspiration for a just ruling that will stop the aggressive war on the Gaza Strip and put an end to the Palestinian bloodshed.
The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said in press statements, “The League’s General Secretariat supports the South African endeavor in all possible ways by being prepared to provide what serves the cause and strengthens the Palestinian position,” adding that it is “an important step, not only towards a ceasefire, but Also holding the Israeli occupation accountable.”
In this context, the Libyan Presidential Council announced yesterday, Wednesday, its support for the lawsuit against Israel, and confirmed – in a statement – its support in every way for the step taken by South Africa in the face of the unprecedented genocide against the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli occupation.
As for Tunisia, it said that it would not join any lawsuit filed against Israel “because of the implicit recognition of this entity,” but it confirmed that it would present oral arguments.
Pakistan also announced its support for the request submitted by the State of South Africa to the International Court of Justice, stressing that it is an important step towards holding Israel accountable for the atrocities it is committing against the Palestinians.
In conjunction with the first session, hundreds of Arabs and foreigners organized a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, in solidarity with Gaza.
The participants in the demonstration expressed their support for South Africa’s move and its demand that Israel stop its military operations in the Gaza Strip immediately. Participants raised the flags of Palestine and South Africa, and chanted slogans denouncing the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
