South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in a case pleaded before the UN International Court of Justice on Thursday.
They're requesting the court to order an immediate halt to the IDF's operations in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel, of course, has denied this claim.
South African lawyers argue that the current iteration of the Gaza conflict is part of a decades-long campaign of oppression of the Palestinians by Israel, according to the Associated Press.
The hearing, which lasted two days, is seen as one of the most significant cases heard in the international court on this issue and cuts deep into the matter. South Africa is looking for a binding order that will compel Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza and the West Bank.
1,200 Israelis lost their lives during the October 7 assault on the country's southern region. Current estimates are that 23,000 Palestinians have died since the Israeli invasion of Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The filing pits the Israeli military campaign's effect on the Palestinian population against Israel's right to defend itself.
"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 as a plausible claim of genocidal acts," South African lawyer Adila Hassim told the judges and audience at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
"Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court," she said. Israel's counter is that it is battling an enemy that attacked its territory, causing the deaths of more people than any attack since the modern state of Israel was created in 1948.
They also blame Hamas for the high death tolls. South Africa, however, insists that Israel's imprecise destruction is by design.
"The scale of destruction in Gaza, the targeting of family homes and civilians, the war being a war on children, all make clear that genocidal intent is both understood and has been put into practice. The articulated intent is the destruction of Palestinian life," said lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.
"What state would admit to a genocidal intent? Yet the distinctive feature of this case has not been the silence as such, but the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of the state in Israel," he said.
The state of Israel was created after the Holocaust, which was genocidal and widespread and resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews. The African National Congress, once led by pro-Palestinian resistance fighter turned leader Nelson Mandela, has a history on such matters after decades of white minority rule with apartheid being the official state policy. Israel denies the accusations and it is unclear that they will heed an UN ruling to halt operations in Gaza.
If not, they would likely face sanctions and those sanctions would likely be vetoed by the United States.
"The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023. The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years," said South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. South Africa argued that Israel's actions in Gaza are an inevitable part of its history since it declared independence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement Wednesday night defending his country's actions and insisted they had nothing to do with genocide.
"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."
