South Africa slams Israel at ICJ for genocidal acts
“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.
“Israel has killed an unparalleled and unprecedented number of civilians, with the full knowledge of how many civilian lives each bomb [dropped] will take.
“More than 1,800 Palestinian families in Gaza have lost multiple family members and hundreds of multi-generational families have been wiped out with no remaining survivors. Mothers, fathers, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, cousins, often all killed together.
“In the first three weeks alone, following Oct. 7, Israel deployed 6,000 bombs per week. At least 200 times it has deployed 2,000-lb bombs in the southern area of Palestine designed to be safe. These bombs also decimated the north, including refugee camps. 2,000-lb bombs are some of the most destructive bombs available.
“This killing is nothing short of destruction of Palestinian life. It is inflicted deliberately. No one is spared. Not even newborn babies.”
That was what South Africa’s legal panel told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague last Thursday, as it asked the United Nations’ top court to immediately order Israel to stop further attacks in the Gaza Strip.
The legal panel is headed by John Dugard, reputedly one of South Africa’s foremost international law experts. Notably, he was recently UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Occupied Palestinian territory and served as ad hoc ICJ judge in the 2000s.
It was the first of two-day hearings, set by the ICJ, on South Africa’s case against Israel for “genocidal intent.” As I was writing this yesterday, it was Israel’s turn to respond. Both sides are given three hours to present their cases. Judgment is usually reserved until later, but it could come within weeks, according to the Guardian.
Ahead of the hearing, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video clip wherein he asserted that Israel was fighting Hamas, not the Palestinian population, and acting in full compliance with international law. “Israel has no intention,” he said, “of
