Police kept rival groups of demonstrators supporting Israel and the Palestinians apart outside the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands on Thursday as opening arguments got underway in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza. Photo by Robin Utrecht/EPA-EFE
South Africa’s case alleging genocide by Israel in Gaza got underway Thursday morning in The Hague with Pretoria seeking an emergency ruling ordering Israel to “cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The three-hour “indication of provisional measures” hearing in the International Court of Justice will feature oral arguments from lawyers from Pretoria while Israel’s legal team is scheduled to get its turn Friday, the ICJ said in a news release. Advertisement
Court time allocated to lawyers for both sides to present their oral arguments was extended Wednesday, “further to a request from Israel,” the court added.
South Africa’s case, filed Dec. 29, accuses Israel of violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which it is a signatory, in its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza in prosecuting its war against Hamas.
Thursday’s hearing is an effort to secure emergency measures from the court “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, which continues to be violated with impunity.” Advertisement
“The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” South Africa wrote in an application to the ICJ.
The injunction being sought by Pretoria would also require Israel to halt the intentional creation of conditions designed to hasten the destruction of the Palestinian people, prevent incitement to genocide, lift restrictions on provision of aid and stop ordering Gazans to evacuate.
The genocide case got underway as the latest death count from the Palestinian Ministry of Health rose by 147 with 243 injured, bringing the total killed as a result of Israel’s combat operations in Gaza triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack to 23,357 and 59,410 injured.
Israel, which reacted with fury when the case was first filed, re-iterated that it was acting within the law to rid Gaza of Hamas and free the hostages the group is holding and that it believes South Africa’s case is unfounded and without merit.
“Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X. Advertisement
Israel also plans to hold a march calling for peace timed to coincide with Thursday’s hearing and a series of events being held by Israel’s consular mission in the Netherlands including exhibitions about Israeli hostages and airing interviews with their families.
