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The legal battle against Israel for genocide in Gaza opens, the case in the UN high court

2024-01-11 08:51:09Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The legal battle against Israel for genocide in Gaza opens, the case in the UN

A legal battle over whether Israel's war against US- and European Union-designated Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza constitutes genocide opened Thursday at the United Nations' top court with hearings after South Africa called on the judges to order the immediate suspension of Israel's military actions. While Israel completely denies the accusations of genocide.

South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice for "genocide" during its war on the Palestinian enclave. The court has decided to consider South Africa's request in hearings on January 11 and 12. The case may take several years. Israel considers the UN and international courts to be unfair and one-sided. But he is sending a strong legal team to the International Court of Justice to defend his military operation launched after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

"I think they have come because they want to be vindicated and think they can successfully resist the charge of genocide," said Juliette McIntyre, an international law expert at the University of South Australia.

Preliminary hearings at the International Court of Justice begin with lawyers for South Africa explaining to judges why the country has accused Israel of "acts and omissions" that are "genocidal in character" in the war in Gaza. Thursday's opening hearing focuses on South Africa's request that the court impose temporary binding orders, including a ban on Israel's military campaign. A decision may take several weeks. Israel's offensive has killed more than 23,200 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled territory.

About two-thirds of the dead are women and children, health officials say. In the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They kidnapped about 250 others, almost half of whom have been released. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed the case as "meritless" during a visit to Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

"It is especially bitter, given that those who are attacking Israel - Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their backer Iran - continue to call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews," he said.

The world court, which rules on disputes between nations, has never held a country responsible for genocide. The last case was in 2007 when it ruled that Serbia "breached the obligation to prevent genocide" in the July 1995 massacre by Bosnian Serb forces of more than 8,000 men and boys from Srebrenica. South Africa "is going to have a hard time crossing the threshold" to prove genocide, McIntyre said.

"It's not just a matter of killing large numbers of people," she added in an email to The Associated Press.

"There must be an intention to destroy a group of people (classified by race or religion for example) in whole or in part, in a particular place," she said.

In a detailed 84-page document launching the case late last year, South Africa claims Israel has demonstrated that intent. Israel responded by insisting that it is acting in accordance with international law and that it is focusing its military actions only against Hamas, adding that the people of Gaza are not the enemy. He asserted that he is acting to minimize harm to civilians and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory. A genocide convention was drawn up in 1948 after World War II and the killing of six million Jews in the Holocaust. Both Israel and South Africa are signatories.

In its written filing, South Africa says it approached the court “to establish Israel's responsibility for violations of the genocide convention; to hold it fully accountable under international law for these violations" and to "provide urgent and fullest possible protection to the Palestinians in Gaza, who remain at grave and immediate risk of continued and further acts of genocide" .A team of lawyers representing South Africa will present three hours of arguments in the large wood-paneled courtroom at the world court.Israel's legal team will have three hours on Friday morning to refute the charges. .

Among the South African delegation will be former UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose leadership of the centre-left Labor Party was tarnished by allegations of anti-Semitism. He is a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause and a fierce critic of Israel. Human Rights Watch said the hearings will provide a UN courtroom review of Israel's actions.

"The case opens a legal process at the world's highest court to credibly examine Israel's conduct in Gaza in the hope of reducing further suffering," said Balkees Jarrah, of the organization.

The UN court, based in a suburb of The Hague in the Netherlands, deals with disputes between nations. The International Criminal Court, located a short distance away in the same Dutch city, prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.


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