before the highest court of the UN, South Africa accuses Israel of wanting to “destroy the lives of Palestinians”

According to Pretoria, Israel is breaking its commitments under the United Nations Genocide Convention with its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

South Africa, in a historic case before the highest UN court, accused Israel of violating the United Nations Genocide Convention on Thursday January 11. Pretoria urgently appealed to the International Court of Justice to order Tel Aviv to “immediately suspend its military operations” in the Gaza Strip.

On October 7, Hamas attacks left around 1,140 people dead on Israeli territory. In retaliation, Israel vowed to“annihilate” the Islamist group in power in the Gaza Strip, triggering a military operation in which nearly 23,500 people were killed, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government, led by the Islamist group.

“No armed attack on the territory of a State, however serious it may be (…) can justify a violation of the Convention”argued the South African Minister of Justice before the ICJ on Thursday. “Israel’s response to the October 7 attack crossed this line and gave rise to violations of the Convention” on the genocide, argued Ronald Lamola.

Israel presents its defense on Friday

Israel called the affair“absurd” And “atrocious”and accused Pretoria of behaving like “the legal arm of the terrorist organization Hamas”. “We are not presenting any case on behalf of Hamas, this statement is baseless. We are doing this on behalf of the Palestinians, children, women and elderly who are being killed in Gaza.”replied Ronald Lamola to journalists, at the end of the hearing before the ICJ.

According to Pretoria, Israel is breaking its commitments made under the United Nations Convention on Genocide, signed in 1948 following the Holocaust. Israel’s bombing campaign aims to “the destruction of Palestinian lives” and pushes them “on the verge of starvation”said Adila Hassim, lawyer for South Africa.

“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the last thirteen weeks of evidence that incontrovertibly shows a pattern of behavior and intent that supports a plausible allegation of genocidal acts“, she declared before the judges. As a co-signatory to the United Nations Convention on Genocide, South Africa can sue Israel before the ICJ, which rules on disputes between states. The Israeli defense must be presented to the court on Friday.