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Gaza War, Israel Rejects South Africa's Genocide Accusations
2024-01-12 16:29:32 / BOTA
Israel defended the military offensive against Hamas at the International Court of Justice as it responded to accusations that it is committing genocide against Palestinians. The second day of the trial, which began based on South Africa's accusation, continued with the arguments of the Israeli side, which asked the judges to dismiss the lawsuit and not to demand the suspension of the military operation in Gaza, as this would allow Israel to vulnerable to attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and other groups operating in Gaza.
Israel on Friday dismissed as false and "distorted" accusations made by South Africa at the UN's top court that its military operations in Gaza are a state-led genocidal campaign against the Palestinian population.
Israel urged the judges to reject South Africa's request to halt its offensive, saying it would leave it vulnerable.
" The accuser has sought to use this term, regarding Israel's conduct in a war it did not start and did not want. A war in which Israel is defending itself against Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations whose brutality knows no bounds ," said Tal Becker, legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, before the judges.
South Africa accuses Israel of violating the 1948 genocide convention, adopted after the killing of millions of Jews, which requires all countries to take measures to ensure such crimes never happen again.
Although a court ruling will take years, South Africa is asking the court in The Hague to order an immediate halt to Israel's military offensive.
Israel's Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam, while addressing the judges, acknowledged that the armed conflict has tragic consequences for civilians on both sides, but he rejected the attempt to classify it as genocide. He said that even the request to force Israel to stop its military operation is "unfounded in law".
" Acceptance of the request would not strengthen the commitment to prevent and punish genocide, but would weaken it. It would turn an instrument adopted by the international community to prevent the horrors that shocked the conscience of humanity during the Holocaust, into a weapon in the hands of terrorist groups that have no respect for humanity or the law ," Mr. Noam said.
Israel launched an air and then ground military offensive in response to the October 7 terror attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took over 240 hostages.
The Israeli offensive, according to Hamas data, which has not been confirmed by independent sources, is reported to have killed over 23,000 people.
Officially, Israel's main ally Washington does not agree with the charge of genocide. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called South Africa's accusation "baseless".
In Washington, however, there is no consensus on this position, as there are some politicians and union leaders who support South Africa's call for a ceasefire. A State Department official who resigned in protest of US support for Israel sent a court document supporting South Africa's accusation.
" I am not arguing that there should be a special standard for Israel. I say there is a global standard and we need to hold all our partners and ourselves accountable to it. In the case of Israel, there are laws that are being circumvented and interpreted differently that appear to be inconsistent with the U.S. approach to the international rule of law ," says Josh Paul, former director in the Department's Bureau of Political and Military Affairs. of the State.
It remains unclear whether Israel will heed any possible court ruling to halt military operations in Gaza. If it does not respect the decisions, Israel may face United Nations sanctions, but they may be blocked by the United States' veto./ VOA
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