Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
12/1/2024–|Last updated: 12/1/202411:31 PM (Mecca time)
The Hague- Today, the second hearing ended with Israel presenting its defense against the genocide charges brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
South African Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola, head of his country’s legal team, said in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the court “is able to rule in our favor because the case file we submitted is strong.”
He added – following the end of the session that was dedicated to Israel this morning in The Hague – that “there is no justification for acts of genocide.”
The Minister of Justice thanked the demonstrators who supported the lawsuit, as well as the residents of the Gaza Strip, Ramallah, and other parts of Palestine, during a press conference he held with his legal team, on Friday, in front of the International Court of Justice.
Lamola confirmed – to Tel Aviv Tribune Net – that the Israeli defense team “failed to refute the lawsuit that we submitted to the court yesterday, Thursday, because the detailed presentation – from a criminal standpoint – presented by our legal team cannot be refuted through propaganda, but rather with facts and evidence only.”
He described Israel’s “alleged justifications” before the International Court of Justice as “surprising,” because the occupying state referred to the Genocide Convention as essential for its protection and for this reason it is unable to violate its provisions.
“An explicit invitation to kill”
In general, Lamola believes that there is no justification for the acts of genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip with the intent to destroy it, under the Genocide Convention, considering that “self-defense is not a solution to committing this act.”
Regarding the statements made by senior Israeli political and military leaders, Israel told the court that “these statements were merely rhetorical and should not be given any importance,” according to its claim.
Regarding this, the Minister of Justice commented by saying: “There is no controversy about what the term Amalek mentioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu means, and we know how the people of Israel and the soldiers fighting on the ground will understand it.”
He stated that after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, Netanyahu said in Hebrew in his talk about the battle with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas): “You must remember what the Amalekites did to you (a Jewish legend) as stated in our Holy Book. We remember.”
South Africa considered Netanyahu’s statements – in its case – an explicit call to kill everyone without exception, including women and children, and genocide all Palestinians.
In a related context, Lamola stressed that Israel is now actually carrying out the Nakba in Gaza. “It admits that these statements came from it, but it is surprising that it insists that it said it metaphorically.”
The Minister of Justice denounced Israel’s justifications, asking, “How can we ignore the statements of the prime minister of a country? How can the world turn a blind eye to the statements of the Minister of Defense and the generals of the Israeli army?”
He continued, “The soldiers are acting on this basis and represent the policy of the State of Israel, which chose to focus intensely on the events of October 7.”