South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of having breached the U.N. Genocide Convention with its brutal response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, claiming that the terror attacks did not justify the retaliation.
Pretoria’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola made the allegation during the opening remarks on the first day of Israel’s trial at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands. “No armed attack on a state territory no matter how serious... can provide any justification for or defense to breaches of the convention,” Lamola said.
South Africa is seeking an emergency order from the court for Israel to immediately stop its campaign in Gaza. According to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 23,000 Palestinians have already died in the region. Israel, which denies allegations of genocide, has vowed to destroy Hamas after 1,200 people were killed in Israel in October, with around 250 others abducted (almost half of whom have since been released).
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At the opening of the case Thursday, South Africa put the ongoing conflict in the context of a broader regional history beginning with the creation of Israel, a state which was itself founded in the aftermath of the Nazi genocide of Jews during the World War II. The genocide convention at the heart of the case was put together and adopted in 1948 in response to the Holocaust.
“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023,” Lamola said. “The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years.” Vusimuzi Madonsela, the co-leader of South Africa’s delegation, added that his country believes that the “genocidal acts and omissions by the state of Israel inevitably form part of a continuum of illegal acts perpetrated against the people of Palestinian people” since 1948, when Israel declared independence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a video statement Wednesday night to deny the allegations of genocide and reaffirm his position that Hamas is responsible for civilian casualties. “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” he said. “Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law.” He added that the Israeli military is “doing its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas is doing its utmost to maximize them by using Palestinian civilians as human shields.”
The full case in the Netherlands is likely to take years, but South Africa has asked the court to issue an interim order for Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza. A decision about such an order could still take weeks.
In the meantime, many more lives are likely to be lost in the conflict. “This killing is nothing short of destruction of Palestinian life,” South African lawyer Adila Hassim said. “It is inflicted deliberately. No one is spared. Not even newborn babies.” She added that the suffering would only end with an order from the ICJ. “Without an indication of provisional measures, the atrocities will continue with the Israeli Defense Force indicating that it intends pursuing this course of action for at least a year,” Hassim said.
During a trip to Tel Aviv Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the charge of genocide against Israel is “meritless.”
“It’s particularly galling, given that those who are attacking Israel—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their supporter, Iran—continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.” he said.
