Israel on Thursday night lambasted South Africa’s latest attempt to have the International Court of Justice order it to halt its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, and accused Pretoria of abusing the Genocide Convention to protect the Islamist terrorist group.
In a short document responding to a new request by South Africa earlier this week for the ICJ to intervene in the current conflict, Israel described Pretoria’s entire application as “unfounded in fact and law” and “morally repugnant.”
Earlier this week, South Africa asked the court to order Israel to desist from plans to stage a military offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave where there are four largely intact Hamas battalions, and where Israel believes Hamas leaders are hiding and Israeli hostages are being held.
Back in December, South Africa filed an application to the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide against Gazans in its war against Hamas. Although the court found in a provisional decision in January that there was plausibility to the claim Israel may have violated some of the terms of the Genocide Convention, it declined to grant South Africa’s central request to order Israel to halt its military campaign.
In response to South Africa’s latest request, Israel first pointed out that was based on Article 75(1) of the Rules of Court and was therefore “a contradiction in terms” since that clause enables the court to issue provisional measures of its own accord, but does not allow for the submission of requests to the court for such measures.
Dealing with the substance of the new measures sought by South Africa, Israel insisted that there had been no change in the situation in Gaza on the ground since the ICJ heard South Africa’s genocide allegations in January, and said that the “unprecedented military offensive in Rafah” of which Pretoria spoke “in fact has not happened.”
Israel described South Africa’s claims of an “unprecedented military operation” in Rafah on February 11 to rescue two Israeli hostages — which Hamas said killed dozens of Palestinians — as an “outrageous distortion,” and asserted that it was Hamas that was demonstrating “contempt for the law” by failing to accede to the ICJ’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages.
Israel also pointed out that South Africa’s request for ICJ intervention, based on supposed concerns of impending genocide, actually cited comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that make clear that any potential military operation is intended to target Hamas battalions in Rafah,” and noted that Netanyahu had himself spoken of the necessity of evacuating civilians from the city.
“This announcement is in line with Israel’s enduring commitment under international humanitarian law to minimize harm to civilians, even as Hamas — in its utter contempt for life and for the law — continues its abhorrent strategy of seeking to maximize such civilian harm through its ongoing attacks against Israeli civilians and through its use of Palestinian civilians and civilian objects as shields in Gaza itself,” Israel insisted forcefully in its submission.
Jerusalem said that South Africa’s use of Netanyahu’s statement that clearly emphasized Hamas was Israel’s target “exposes yet again an intention to abuse the Genocide Convention” and have the court “micro-manage” the conflict, the conduct of which is governed not by the Genocide Convention but by international humanitarian law over which the court has no jurisdiction in this war.
“It is evidence of a renewed and cynical effort by South Africa to use provisional measures as a sword, rather than a shield, and to manipulate the Court to protect South Africa’s longtime ally Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, from Israel’s inherent right and obligation to defend itself, in accordance with the law, from the terrorist assault it faces and to pursue the release of over 130 hostages,” declared Israel.