Israel’s war on Gaza: ICJ genocide case opens in The Hague

Proceedings opened on Thursday (11 January) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where Israel faces accusations from South Africa that it is subjecting Palestinians in Gaza to “genocidal acts”.
South Africa accuses Israel of violating the United Nations’s 1948 Genocide Convention, established in the wake of the Holocaust, an accusation that Tel Aviv has dismissed, saying it operates in accordance with international law. Lawyers told the top UN court that more than 23,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced amid Israel’s ongoing three-month war in the territory. Therefore, South Africa appeals to the court to order Israel to halt its deadly campaign in Gaza
Rights organizations have long accused Israel of the crime of Apartheid under the Apartheid Convention and Rome Statute namely. Adila Hassim, a lawyer representing South Africa, told the ICJ that Israel had breached Article II of the Genocide Convention, which included the “mass killing” of Palestinians in Gaza. “Israel deployed 6,000 bombs per week … No one is spared. Not even newborns. UN chiefs have described it as a graveyard for children,” she said. Many people in South Africa and other parts of the continent are closely watching the genocide case. “All African countries should support South Africa in this step,” Modou Jawo, a resident of the Gambian capital, Banjul, told the media. “What Israel is doing is killing innocent people.” But analysts point out that the case could drag on for years.