Israel rejects genocide charges, tells World Court it must defend itself
THE HAGUE, (Reuters) – Israel yesterday rejected as false and “grossly distorted” accusations brought by South Africa at the U.N.’s top court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population.
Arguing it was acting to defend itself and was fighting Hamas, not the Palestinian population, Israel called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss the case as groundless and reject South Africa’s request to halt the offensive.
“This is no genocide,” lawyer Malcolm Shaw said. Israel launched its war in Gaza after a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 by militants from Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction. Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed, mainly civilians, and 240 taken hostage.
“The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas’ strategy,” the Israeli foreign ministry’s legal adviser, Tal Becker told the court.
“If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel,” Becker said. “Hamas seeks genocide against Israel,” he added.
South Africa asked the court on Thursday to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the offensive.
It said Israel’s aerial and ground offensive – which has laid waste to much of the enclave and killed almost 24,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities – aimed to bring about “the destruction of the population” of Gaza.
Israel rejected the accusations, saying it respected international law and had a right to defend itself.
“When the cannons roar in Gaza the law is not silent,” Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam told the court.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
Israel, its defence team argued, was doing what it could to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, including efforts to urge Palestinians to evacuate.