\n South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the top UN court.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to \"immediately suspend\" its military operations in Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel has dismissed the case as \"atrocious\" and \"preposterous\" and vowed to set out a robust defence on Friday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious... can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention,\" said Pretoria's Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Israel's response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,\" he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Gaza war erupted when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack, which resulted in about 1,140 people killed in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel has responded with a relentless military campaign that has killed at least 23,469 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.\n<\/p>\n
\n A world away from the death and destruction in Gaza and Israel, robed lawyers battled it out over technical legal arguments in the Peace Palace in The Hague.\n<\/p>\n
\n South Africa argues Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.\n<\/p>\n
\n Top lawyer for South Africa Adila Hassim said Israel's bombing campaign aimed at the \"destruction of Palestinian life\" and had pushed Palestinians \"to the brink of famine\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"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 genocidal acts,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n As a fellow signatory to the treaty, South Africa can take Israel to the ICJ, which rules on disputes between countries and is often described as the \"World Court\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own historic struggle against the white-minority government, which had cooperative relations with Israel.\n<\/p>\n
\n South Africa has acknowledged the \"particular weight of responsibility\" of accusing Israel of genocide. It \"unequivocally\" condemned the Hamas attacks that sparked off the war in Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n Describing South Africa as the \"legal arm\" of Hamas, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said Pretoria's case was \"one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Atrocious and preposterous'\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel President Isaac Herzog has already hinted at his country's likely defence against what he called an \"atrocious and preposterous... claim\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We will present proudly our case of using self defence... under international humanitarian law,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Herzog said the Israeli army was \"doing its utmost under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground to make sure that there will be no unintended consequences and no civilian casualties\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The United States is backing its ally Israel, with the State Department describing the charges as \"unfounded\".\n<\/p>\n
\n As it is an urgent procedure, the ICJ could rule in a matter of weeks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Its rulings are final and cannot be appealed. However, countries do not always follow the court's verdicts -- the ICJ has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, for example.\n<\/p>\n
\n But a court ruling against Israel would certainly increase political pressure on the country, with many speculating it could serve as a pretext for sanctions.\n<\/p>\n
\n Cecily Rose, assistant professor of public international law at Leiden University, noted the court did not have to rule on the fundamentals of the case at this stage -- that issue will likely take years.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Instead, the court would only be evaluating whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice to rights held under the Genocide Convention, in particular the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts that threaten their existence as a group,\" Rose told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dutch police kept rival demonstrations apart in The Hague. Hundreds of pro-Israeli protesters waving flags marched through the streets while a smaller group of pro-Palestinian supporters brandished placards saying: \"End Israel apartheid.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Pro-Israeli protester Ada Deyl, an 80-year-old pensioner, said: \"I think it's a shame that Israel -- who is doing all the right things and is attacked by Hamas -- is now facing a lawsuit.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n On the other side, Zohar Janovitch, 40, alleged that Israeli leaders had \"explicitly expressed their disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.\"\n<\/p>\n
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South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the top UN court. Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-126930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n