Israel Defends Genocide Accusations at the International Court of Justice
The Hague, MINA – Tal Becker, legal advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered a defense statement on charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague on Friday.
Becker said South Africa had ignored the events of October 7 and that Israel had the right to defend itself. Al Jazeera reported.
He also said the International Court of Justice should apply provisional measures against South Africa, accusing it of maintaining close ties to Hamas.
Prof. Malcolm Shaw, a British professor of international law, spoke out against South Africa’s claim that the two countries were at odds.
Galit Raguan, Acting Director of the International Justice Division at the Israeli Ministry of Justice, after the defense session blamed Hamas for the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza and emphasized that Israel did not bomb hospitals.
Christopher Staker, an international lawyer who previously served on the criminal courts of the former Yugoslavia, is Israel’s fourth representative.
He claimed Israel had facilitated humanitarian aid.
Gilad Noam, Israel’s Deputy Attorney General for International Affairs, presented Israel’s final argument.
He opposed the use of interim measures, citing several reasons, including that Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and other countries and has carried out “large-scale terrorist attacks”.
The International Court of Justice’s decision on a vote for, or against, South Africa’s urgent request for interim measures, will be announced in the coming weeks.
South Africa responded to Israel’s defense by saying it “rejects with disgust” Israel’s claims.
Zane Dangor, Director General of South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations, strongly denied accusations made by Israel’s foreign ministry that South Africa serves as an arm of Hamas.
“The South African legal team represents the South African people,” Dangor said after the ICJ hearing.
He added that his country was filing a genocide case at the ICJ “because it wants to stop further harm to Palestinians and this is in the interests of justice.”
“What Israel gave us was a lot of lies that have been debunked,” he continued.
Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Ammar Hijazi told reporters after the hearing that the Israeli legal team was “unable to provide strong arguments based on facts and law”.
“What Israel is presenting now is a lot of lies that have already been debunked,” he added, referring to, among other things, Israel’s claim that the hospital in Gaza was being used as a military base.
“Moreover, we think that what the Israeli team is trying to present today is the right thing to put before the court by South Africa, namely that there is nothing that can justify genocide,” he continued. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
