Israel has rejected the accusations introduced by South Africa to the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) that its actions in Gaza quantity to genocide, in a second day of a public listening to on the world physique in The Hague.
Israel’s authorized representatives on Friday claimed South Africa’s case was “unfounded”, “absurd” and amounting to “libel”, and stated Israel sought to not destroy a individuals however to guard its individuals.
On Thursday, on the primary day of hearings, South Africa argued Israel had dedicated “systematic” acts of genocide in Gaza, the place greater than 23,500 Palestinians have been killed amid Israel’s army marketing campaign, with a minimum of 70 p.c of whom have been ladies and kids, in accordance with Gaza’s Well being Ministry.
Israel’s arguments revolved round its “right to self-defence” following the assaults by Hamas on October 7, in addition to what it referred to as a scarcity of proof of “genocidal intent”.
Christopher Staker, a lawyer representing Israel, stated, “The inevitable fatalities and human suffering of any conflict is not of itself a pattern of conduct that plausibly shows genocidal intent.”
Malcolm Shaw, a professor of worldwide regulation representing Israel, stated the case relates solely to costs of genocide, which “stands alone among violations of international law as the epitome of evil”. If the cost of genocide is levelled incorrectly, “the essence of this crime would be lost”, he stated.
Shaw added that such proof was missing within the arguments South Africa introduced a day earlier.
Detailing its proof on Thursday, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a lawyer for South Africa, stated, “The evidence of genocidal intent is not only chilling, it is also overwhelming and incontrovertible.”
‘Massive disconnect’
Israel’s authorized representatives insisted its military has acted in compliance with worldwide regulation in Gaza and aimed to mitigate civilian hurt by warning of impending army actions, together with by way of phone calls and leafleting.
Omri Sender, one other lawyer, argued that Israel’s efforts to facilitate humanitarian help to individuals in Gaza testified to its goal of defending the civilian inhabitants, quite than destroying it.
Nonetheless, Thomas MacManus, a senior lecturer in state crime at Queen Mary College of London, advised Al Jazeera the ICJ is more likely to see a “massive disconnect” between the image Israel painted of its humanitarian concern for Gaza and “the reality on the ground where UN agencies say people are starving, lacking water, and seeing attacks on hospitals, schools, and universities”.
Talking earlier than the ICJ listening to, Galit Raguan, performing director of the worldwide justice division at Israel’s Ministry of Justice, refuted the declare that Israel had bombed hospitals. She argued Israel had discovered proof of Hamas utilizing “every single hospital in Gaza” for army functions.
Responding to claims that hospitals have been used as army bases, Palestinian international ministry official Ammar Hijazi advised Al Jazeera exterior The Hague that Israel’s arguments weren’t based mostly in truth or regulation.
“What Israel has provided today are many of the already debunked lies,” he stated.
‘Plausible right to self-defence’
The ICJ is about to rule on 9 provisional measures successfully in search of the suspension of army operations in Gaza, however a timeline for when that may occur has not been acknowledged. Israel has argued the provisional measures can not require a state to chorus from exercising a “plausible right to defend itself”.
On the problem of jurisdiction, Israel argued that one of many necessities of the ICJ’s mandate is that the state placing ahead the case ought to attempt to type out this downside first. Based on Israel, they didn’t handle to speak to South Africa earlier than they introduced this case to the courtroom. In flip, South Africa argued it had reached out to Israel however obtained no response.
The Israeli crew did make sturdy “jurisdictional and procedural arguments”, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara stated, however he added that “Israel lost the moral, factual, historical and humanitarian argument because of the way the situation has unravelled in Gaza – with the sheer death and industrial killing there.”
Tal Becker, the authorized adviser of Israel’s international ministry, advised the ICJ listening to that South Africa loved shut relations with Hamas and was subsequently making an attempt to place ahead a “distorted factual and legal picture”.
South Africa “firmly rejects” that declare, Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller stated, reporting from South Africa.
“The South African government has said that it doesn’t have bilateral relations with Hamas and that its stance in terms of supporting the Palestinian struggle against occupation does not equate to the support of Hamas,” she stated.
In its presentation on Thursday, South Africa’s legal professionals additionally condemned Hamas’s actions on October 7.
ICJ President Joan Donoghue ended the two-day listening to saying the courtroom will announce its resolution within the coming days.