Pretoria accuses Israel of committing “genocidal acts” and refers the matter to the International Court of Justice. Israel calls it “absurd defamation.”
South Africa sues Israel for “genocidal acts” before the International Court of Justice.
Pretoria filed an 84-page request and assures that the IDF deliberately aims to “destroy a substantial part” of the Palestinian people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds that “no”, it was not Israel who came to “perpetrate genocide, it was Hamas”.
Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg, lecturer in international relations at King’s College London: “With genocide, we must having committed the crime with the specific intention of destroying a group as such, destroy a group because it is that group. And that’s where it gets complicated. That’s where I expect Israel’s defense to be focused.”
Israel has set itself the goal of destruction of Hamas and the release of some 110 hostages still in the hands of the terrorist organization.
The judges could take years to decide on the merits, but Pretoria demands that they order Israel to immediately suspend its military operations.
Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg, lecturer in international relations at King’s College London: “There are no international police to knock on your door and say you are violating a judge’s order, I will arrest you for contempt of court or something like that. So, really, it depends on what other states can do.”