Israeli media outlets have reported that Israel has decided to appear before the International Court of Justice to respond to a lawsuit filed by South Africa, accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" mentioned that the Israeli military and political entities recently held several meetings to discuss how to deal with South Africa's claim.
The International Court of Justice, headquartered in The Hague in the Netherlands, announced last Friday that it had received a request from South Africa to file a case against Israel for violating the Genocide Convention. The lawsuit alleges that Israel "engaged in acts aimed at ethnic cleansing in Gaza."
The South African move follows the martyrdom of more than 21,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year.
For its part, Israel considered South Africa's claim "lacking a factual and legal basis and constituting a contemptible and insulting exploitation of the court."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that "South Africa is cooperating with a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has accused Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, holding it responsible for the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel called on the International Court of Justice and the international community to "completely reject South Africa's baseless claims," according to its statement.
