The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will soon rule on a bid by South Africa to order Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah. It is part of an ongoing case that began in December 2023 and alleges that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel rejects the accusation of genocide as ‘unfounded’.
What is the International Court of Justice?
The ICJ is the highest court of the United Nations (UN).
It is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, and was founded after World War II to settle disputes between states.
It also provides advice on legal issues, which is also required of the country regarding Israel.
Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICJ cannot prosecute individuals for crimes of the utmost seriousness, such as genocide.
But his opinions carry weight with the UN and other international institutions.
What is genocide and what is the case against Israel?
South Africa claims Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians after Hamas’ attack on October 7.
Hundreds of Hamas gunmen crossed into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 252 hostages to Gaza.
More than 35,800 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
Evidence submitted by South Africa alleges that Israel’s “acts and omissions” are “genocidal in nature because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial portion of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group ‘.
This describes what Israel is actively doing, such as carrying out airstrikes, and what it is allegedly failing to do, such as, according to South Africa, preventing harm to civilians.
The claim also highlights Israeli public rhetoric, including comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as evidence of “genocidal intent.”
In international law, genocide is defined as the commission of one or more acts with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Those actions are:
-
killing or causing serious physical or mental harm to members of the group
-
the intentional imposition of living conditions on the group that are intended to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
-
imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
-
forcibly transferring children from the group to another group
How has Israel responded to accusations of genocide?
Israel has strongly rejected South Africa’s claim.
Netanyahu said: “It is not us who have come to commit genocide, but Hamas.
“It would kill us all if it could.
‘The IDF, on the other hand [Israel Defense Forces] is to act as morally as possible.”
The Israeli military says it is taking a series of measures to prevent civilian casualties.
These include:
-
airdropping flyers warning of impending attacks
-
calling citizens’ phones to urge them to leave the targeted buildings
-
aborting some attacks when civilians get in the way
The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that its intention is to destroy Hamas, and not the Palestinian people. It says it will defy any court order to halt its offensive in Rafah or anywhere else in Gaza.
What has the court ruled and when will a final judgment be issued?
On January 26, 2024, the court ruled on a number of interim steps that South Africa had requested to take against Israel.
The main request was that the court order Israel to immediately halt operations in Gaza, but the court did not accept this.
However, it did order Israel to prevent its military from committing acts that could be considered genocidal, to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
The court also ruled that she had the legal right to proceed with the genocide case. The court’s then president, Joan Donoghue, told the BBC in April that the International Court of Justice did not decide that there were plausible arguments for genocide, but that Palestinians had the right to be protected from genocide.
A final ruling in the case could take several years.
Rulings are legally binding on countries that formally accept the International Court of Justice – including Israel and South Africa – but are in practice not enforceable by the court.
In 2022, the ICJ ordered Russia to “immediately suspend military operations” in Ukraine, but the order was ignored.
Why did South Africa file the case?
South Africa has been highly critical of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
And as a signatory to the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, the country has a duty to take action, it says.
The ruling African National Congress also has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
It sees parallels with his struggle against apartheid – a policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by South Africa’s white minority government against the country’s black majority until the first democratic elections in 1994.
The country condemned the October 7 attacks and called for the release of the hostages.
“Our opposition to the continued slaughter of the people of Gaza has prompted us as a country to approach the International Court of Justice,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa. “As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will be on the right side of history.”
Correction February 13: This article incorrectly reported that approximately 1,300 people had been killed following the October 7 Hamas attack. This was based on counting those who later died of their wounds, in addition to the figure of over 1,200. The article has been changed to now refer to approximately 1,200 deaths, a figure that includes these deaths and that Israel says is not final.
Additional reporting by Damian Zane.
