‘Hypocrisy of SA screams to the heavens’ Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday condemned SA’s genocide case against Israel in Gaza as “hypocrisy and lies”, as some Gazans returned to scenes of total devastation in the north of the enclave where Israeli forces have begun withdrawing.

The case, brought by SA at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accuses Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Holocaust, which mandates all countries to ensure such crimes are never repeated.

But Netanyahu said “the hypocrisy of SA screams to the heavens”.

“We are fighting terrorists, we are fighting lies ... Today we saw an upside-down world.

“Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting against genocide,” he said.

Israel’s foreign ministry accused SA of “functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation” in a case built on “false and baseless claims”.

Palestinians said they hoped the court would stop the war.

In Rafah, southern Gaza, where the bodies of members of the al-Arjany family who were killed overnight were laid out outside a morgue, neighbour Khamis Kelab picked up the smallest of three children bundled in shrouds and cradled the dead infant in his arms.

“To the ICJ: what is the fault of this baby? What did this girl do? What crime did she commit? Was she a terrorist? Did this baby fire rockets?” he said.

“She was inside a tent, in the freezing cold, she was hit by a strike. This baby is just a few days old, you people.”

The case reveals stark international polarisation.

Several Western countries joined Washington in calling genocide accusations against Israel unjustified, not least given the ruthlessness of the Hamas attacks that precipitated the war.

But some developing states, including heavyweight Brazil, backed SA.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said SA was driven to bring the case by “the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza” and SA’s own apartheid history.