South Africa confronts Israel today, Thursday, at the highest court of the United Nations, where judges will hear the case brought by South Africa against Israel for committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, along with a request for an immediate halt to the military campaign launched by Israel. The International Court of Justice in The Hague, also known as the World Court, will hold hearings over two days in a case filed at the end of December, accusing Israel of failing to fulfill its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Israel has described the entire case as absurd and accused Pretoria of playing the role of "devil's advocate" in favor of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which is waging a war against it in Gaza. Both South Africa and Israel are parties to the genocide convention, which obligates them not to commit acts of genocide as well as to prevent and punish it. The treaty defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group."
South Africa has requested that the court order a series of emergency measures, particularly the suspension of military operations in Gaza while the court considers the case, which could take years. The Israeli forces launched their offensive following an attack across the border by fighters from Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, which Israel claims resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of another 240. Since then, the attack has caused significant destruction in the densely populated Gaza Strip and the displacement of almost all of its 2.3 million residents at least once, leading to a humanitarian disaster.
Since the post-apartheid era, South Africa has defended the Palestinian cause, a relationship that formed when the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Yasser Arafat, welcomed the African National Congress's struggle against white minority rule. In November, what has now become the ruling African National Congress supported a proposal in the South African Parliament to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.
In its court papers, South Africa indicated that Israel has not provided food, water, medicine, and other essential humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian sector. The documents also refer to the ongoing bombing campaign that has reportedly resulted in more than 23,000 deaths, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israeli government spokesperson Elhanan Levy stated before the hearings that Israel "remains committed to international law and acts in accordance with it," asserting that all military actions are directed against Hamas. A decision on emergency measures is expected later this month. The court will not issue a ruling at this time regarding the genocide allegations, as it will only rule on that aspect in its final judgment, which is likely to be issued after several years. The decisions of the International Court of Justice are final and cannot be appealed, but the court has no mechanism to enforce them.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller stated, "Allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded. In fact, those who violently attack Israel are the ones who continue to explicitly call for its destruction and the mass killing of Jews." Miller defended Israel's right to "defend itself against Hamas's terrorist actions" but added that Israel must "adhere to international humanitarian law" and "consider additional ways to prevent harm to civilians and investigate credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law when raised."
On the eve of the hearings, Netanyahu expressed for the first time publicly his opposition to calls from right-wing ministers in his government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, for Palestinians to voluntarily leave Gaza to facilitate Israeli settlement expansion in the area. While this position is the official policy of Israel, Netanyahu's previous statements regarding the issue of permanent occupation of Gaza have sometimes been inconsistent and ambiguous. He stated via the X social media platform, "I want to clarify some points unequivocally: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or relocating its civilian population." He added, in comments likely intended to precede the court hearings, "Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we do this with full compliance with international law."
