South Africa authority has approached the International Criminal Court of Justice, ICJ today to open a case accusing Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, saying that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions. Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military operations in Gaza, as the destruction is going into its 13th week.
Although Israel has slammed the case as “atrocious” and “preposterous” as described by South Africa and is expected to put forward its defence on Friday, 12th Jan, 2024.
According to the South African Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, “No armed attack on a state territory no matter how serious… can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention.”
The Minister said, “Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,”
Hamas has on 7th October launched its unprecedented attack, which left about 1,140 people killed in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Consequently, Israel has responded with a relentless military onslaught that has killed at least 23,357 people, mostly women, children and hospital patients, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Accordingly, South Africa argues that Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.
Top lawyer for South Africa Adila Hassim said Israel’s bombing campaign as well as utterances from it leaders is aimed at the “destruction of Palestinian life” and had pushed Palestinians “to the brink of famine”.
The lawyer said, “Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocide acts.”
Being a member of the treaty, South Africa can drag Israel to the ICJ, which rules on disputes between countries and is often described as the “World Court”.
Having walk in a similar path, the ruling party African National Congress (ANC), leader has been a supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own struggle against the white-minority government, which had cooperative relations with Israel.
Although, the South African government had in strong term condemned the atrocity perpetrated by Hammas on October 7 saying “particular weight of responsibility” of accusing Israel of genocide. It “unequivocally”.
‘Atrocious and preposterous’
Israel President Isaac Herzog has already hinted at his country’s likely defence against what he called an “atrocious and preposterous… claim”.
He said, “We will present proudly our case of using self defence… under international humanitarian law,”
He claimed his forces were “doing its utmost under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground to make sure that there will be no unintended consequences and no civilian casualties”.
The United state being the ally to Israeli and a major supplier of its weaponry has slammed the South African charges, describing it as “unfunded”.
State Department spokes person, Mathew Miller instead claimed, “In fact, it is those who are violently attacking Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews,”
Being an urgent procedure, it is expected that the ICJ could rule in a matter of weeks.
Unfortunately, powerful countries do not always follow the court’s verdicts just like the ICJ has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, has been flaunted by Russia.
However, some international political commentator believed that its ruling against Israel would certainly increase political pressure on the country, with many speculating it could serve as a pretext for sanctions.
