2024-01-12T07:05:17+00:00
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/ Israel, “accused of committing genocide against the Palestinians,” announced on Friday its intention to defend its war in Gaza before the highest United Nations courts, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized these allegations and described them as blatant hypocrisy that “screams to the heavens.” .
Yesterday, Thursday, Israel strongly denied the accusations made by South Africa in one of the largest cases ever brought before an international court, as lawyers from Johannesburg asked the court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in the besieged coastal enclave, which is inhabited by 2.3 million Palestinians. .
Israel often boycotts international courts and UN investigations, saying they are unfair and biased, but, in a sign of how seriously they take the issue, Israeli leaders took the rare step of sending a legal team and engaging with the International Court of Justice to defend their reputation.
In his opening statements on Thursday, South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said: “The scale of the destruction in Gaza, the targeting of family homes and civilians, and the fact that the war is a war on children – all demonstrate that the genocidal intent was understood and put into practice. The clear intent is to destroy Palestinian lives.” .
He added that the “distinctive feature” of the case is “the repetition and repetition of genocidal discourse in all spheres of the state in Israel.”