Israel declassifies 30 secret papers to rebut charges of genocide
ISRAEL declassified dozens of secret orders issued by government and military officials in an attempt to rebut genocide charges being weighed up by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The move came ahead of a crucial hearing today which might result in Israel being ordered to cease its war in Gaza. It saw Israeli representatives submit more than 30 documents to the court intended to disprove South Africa’s claim it was deliberately massacring Palestinian civilians in the territory.
The documents, reviewed by The New York Times, reportedly demonstrate consistent Israeli efforts to minimise deaths in the enclave during months of war with Hamas following its Oct 7 attack. More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The UN and other aid groups have criticised the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for indiscriminately targeting densely populated areas. But the 400page defence Israel has put to the ICJ includes what it believes amounts to evidence that officials have at no point in the conflict expressed genocidal intentions.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, which South Africa has accused Israel of violating, defines genocide as killings carried out with an “intent to destroy” a particular ethnic or national group.
As a result, submissions have focused extensively on what Israeli officials and troops have said, as well as their actions.
One declassified document cited by The New York Times revealed that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, had stressed to cabinet colleagues in mid-november that there was a “need to significantly increase the humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip”.
The cited documents, however, appeared to be highly curated and omitted key orders, including when Israel decided to cut off water and electricity to the enclave.
Prof Malcolm Shaw, a British international law expert representing Israel at the ICJ, told the court earlier this month that it had submitted “numerous excerpts from internal cabinet decisions that attest to Israel’s true intent throughout this war”.
He cited instructions from Mr Netanyahu at a ministerial committee at the end of October that “we must prevent a humanitarian disaster”.
Minutes of the meeting state that Mr Netanyahu told officials that they must ensure required supplies of water, food and medicines were sent to Gaza.
The UN’S World Food Programme warned on Tuesday the territory was “slipping” into a catastrophe with a “looming threat of hunger”.
Mr Netanyahu was expected to meet with Israel’s top legal officials yesterday to map out responses to the ICJ’S anticipated ruling today on South Africa’s request for emergency measures over the war in Gaza.
Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, said that Israel expected the ICJ to throw out the “spurious and specious charges” brought by South African officials.