BRUSSELS (AN) – Israel fiercely rejected charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, arguing it is doing everything it can to protect civilians during its military operations in Gaza.
Lawyers for Israel on Friday said that South Africa, which brought the case to the United Nations' top court, was acting on "outrageous distortions" that made it essentially a "legal arm" of the militant group Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 more in an Oct. 7 attack.
The Hague-based ICJ heard arguments from South Africa calling on Israel to "immediately, totally and unconditionally withdraw" its army from Gaza. South Africa cited the threat of escalation in Israel's offensive in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians live, and asked the court to order an immediate cease-fire and unfettered access for aid workers, journalists, and investigators.
Gilad Noam, Israel's deputy attorney general for international law, called the proceedings "a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide," and contended that Israel is doing everything it can to minimize civilian casualties. He said Israel has the right to move ahead with a full-scale military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza to defend itself against Hamas.
"This war, like all wars, is tragic. For Israelis and Palestinians," he said. "It has exacted a terrible human price, but it is not genocide."
Noam said the purpose of the Genocide Convention, under which South Africa petitioned the ICJ, is "not to have the court supervise the conduct of armed hostilities." He cautioned the court that acceding to South Africa's requests risked entangling the ICJ in "the micromanagement of operational aspects of an armed conflict" – a role he implied exceeded the bounds of its remit.
Lawyers forcefully defended Israel's offensive in Rafah, launched in May, as a precisely targeted operation against Hamas militants, framing it as an exercise of the country's inherent right to self-defense.
The Israeli team argued that any attempt by the court to place restrictions on its military actions would improperly benefit Hamas, since the militant group is not a recognized state and therefore outside the ICJ's jurisdiction.
Vaughan Lowe, a lawyer for South Africa, said Israel’s Rafah offensive aims to "utterly destroy" Gaza as a habitable area, "the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people."
The U.N., Group of Seven and humanitarian aid groups warn that a full Rafah assault could mean mass civilian casualties. Some 630,000 people have fled the city as Israel orders civilians to "humanitarian zones."
At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to U.N. figures. Up to 70% of homes have been destroyed and 1.7 million civilians displaced.
The court is expected to take several years before ruling on the broader genocide case against Israel. A decision on the emergency measures requested by South Africa is anticipated in the coming weeks, though no precise timeline has been given.
Proving the crime of genocide as defined by the 1951 U.N. Convention governing these proceedings is extremely difficult. It requires evidence of intent to destroy a people, not just a high death toll that can occur in armed conflict. Deaths alone do not legally constitute genocide.
While the ICJ can order a cease-fire, it lacks enforcement powers. Russia has thus far defied a 2022 ruling by the ICJ instructing it to cease its large-scale military offensive in Ukraine. Israeli officials have signaled their intention to disregard any judgment against operations in Rafah.
“Nobody will prevent us from realizing our basic right to self-defense — neither the U.N. General Assembly nor any other body,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, dismissing the assembly's resolution passed last week upgrading Palestine's rights at the world body as an observer state without offering full membership.
