2024-01-11 13:17:44
Israel will have to respond this Thursday to the serious accusations from Pretoria. The Jewish state is in fact facing accusations of “genocidal acts” in Gaza before the International Court of Justice, formulated by South Africa and rejected by the Israeli president.
Pretoria urgently seized the highest court of the United Nations, which sits in The Hague, to order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations” in the Gaza Strip. According to South Africa, Israel is breaking its commitments made under the United Nations Convention on Genocide, signed in 1948 following the Holocaust. As a co-signatory to the treaty, Pretoria can sue Israel before the ICJ, which rules on disputes between states.
Pretoria also “unequivocally” condemns the Hamas attack
In its 84-page request, South Africa recognizes the “particular weight of responsibility” for the accusation of genocide against Israel and “unequivocally” condemns the Hamas attack of October 7. But Israeli actions in Gaza are intended “to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group,” she accuses.
“There is nothing more atrocious and absurd than this assertion,” responded Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “We will be before the International Court of Justice and we will proudly present our case of self-defense (…) under international humanitarian law,” he added. According to him, the Israeli army is “doing everything possible, under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground, to ensure that there will be no unintended consequences or civilian casualties.”
A powerless institution
Representatives from both countries will speak at hearings this Thursday and Friday. As this is an emergency procedure, the ICJ could rule in a few weeks. Its decisions are final and legally binding, but it has no power to enforce them.
Importantly, the full resolution of the case before the ICJ can take years. At this stage, “the court will not determine whether a genocide is taking place in Gaza,” underlines Cecily Rose, professor of international law at Leiden University in the Netherlands. According to her, “the court will only assess whether there is a risk of irreparable harm to the rights guaranteed by the Genocide Convention, in particular the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected against acts that threaten their existence as a group” .
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