In a turn of historical irony, South Africa, once a staunch ally of Israel and instrumental in the implementation of apartheid, has today become a legal adversary to Tel Aviv at the International Court of Justice, charged with genocide in Gaza. This marks the first time Israel is being prosecuted for violations against the Palestinian people.
South Africa filed a legal suit against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on December 29th, accusing it of committing acts of genocide against the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The case urges the court to take steps to protect Palestinians during the brutal war waged by the occupation against the enclave since October 7th.
The 84-page lawsuit asserts, "Israel's actions and omissions bear the hallmarks of genocide as it is carried out with the specific intent required…to destroy Gazan Palestinians as part of the wider national, ethnic, and racial group, that is the Palestinians."
The lawsuit also points to Israel's behavior "through state apparatus, state agents, and other individuals and entities acting on its instructions, or under its direction, control, or influence," as a violation of its obligations toward Palestinians in Gaza under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Both South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which grants the International Court of Justice jurisdiction to resolve disputes based on the treaty. The covenant obligates all signatory states to refrain from, prevent, and punish the crime of genocide.
The lawsuit notes that Israel "failed to prevent genocide and failed to prosecute direct and public incitement to commit genocide." In response, Israel has acknowledged its appearance before the court to address what it terms "baseless outlandish allegations" presented by South Africa, and will attend the sessions scheduled for January 11th and 12th.
The Israeli war on Gaza has resulted in the martyrdom of more than 23,000 Palestinians by early January (AFP).
A History of Crimes
Historically, Israel and Zionist gangs before the state's establishment, committed heinous crimes with the aim to terrorize and displace Palestinians from their land. Research by Palestinian centers indicates that since 1947, over 100 major massacres — each characterized by elements of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing — took place. Still, Israel has remained out of the reach of accountability.
Given the historical evidence and the ongoing Israeli brutal war on Gaza, the crimes against humanity defined under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of populations, imprisonment, and torture, do not require substantiation. These crimes also encompass persecution of any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, or gender grounds, enforced disappearance of individuals, apartheid, and other inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.
These incidents, falling under war crimes and crimes against humanity, occur daily in the war Israel wages on Gaza, as clearly and indisputably documented in sound and image.
Most human rights, humanitarian, and relief organizations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization, and the International Red Cross, attest to the criminal nature of Israeli military actions against civilians, including international agency personnel.
Genocide: Intent and Action
Genocide was first defined in the international convention against genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 and entered into force in 1951, then in various UN texts and in Article 6 of the Rome Statute. It signifies any act committed with the intent to completely or partially destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, such as:
- Killing members of the group
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
The term genocide (genocide) was first coined by the Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1946, recognized by the UN General Assembly in 1946 as a crime under international law, as stated by the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, which was incorporated in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, ratified by 149 countries.
Genocide is not subject to a statute of limitations and perpetrators do not benefit from immunity; all those who committed or ordered it can be prosecuted, regardless of position, whether rulers, public officials, or individuals, per Articles III and IV of the Genocide Convention.
Israel practiced systematic displacement of Gaza's population (Social Media).
Israel: Plan, Intent, and Act
Documents and direct audiovisual evidence suggest that Israel executed genocide in Gaza with all its integral elements, considering the size of the recorded destructive bombings and the targeted assaults on civilians (with the intention of displacement), as well as killings, blockades, and collective physical and psychological torture. The purposeful destruction of homes, shelters, and cutting off vital life sources, including water, electricity, fuel, and communications, was evident.
Legal experts note that the act of imposing a choking siege, the complete prohibition of the entry of food and medical humanitarian aid, the documented deliberate attacks on hospitals and ambulances, the deaths of patients and children due to infeasible treatment, and the methodical forced displacement southwards constitute a context of genocide.
Given that intent is fundamental for acknowledging and proving genocide — the intention to physically destroy a group or part of a group (national, ethnic, racial, or religious according to the convention) — Israeli practices on the ground and official statements indicate a concealed plan or systematic policy being executed.
Rights advocates identify what they call a "genocidal tendency" recurrent in official remarks by members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government or other officials, including the narrative of "war against forces of evil and barbarism," dehumanization of Palestinians, and descriptions of them as animals. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 9th, 2023 stated:
"We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza City; no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is shut. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly."
This statement embodies what could be considered a premeditated crime of genocide. Israeli officials repeatedly claimed that there are no civilians in the sector and everyone is a terrorist, while the Minister of Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, on November 4th, suggested using nuclear weapons against Gaza's population if needed, which was also echoed by former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin.
Israeli politicians have repeatedly mentioned the destruction of Gaza to render it unlivable, and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called for turning Khan Yunis into a 'vast soccer field.' Proposals for transferring Gaza's population to Sinai in Egypt or their relocation to other countries were repeatedly voiced by Israeli ministers, including Prime Minister Netanyahu. Herding more than a million Gazans under brutal bombardment and severing their lifelines is seen as a phase in an Israeli plan that aligns with the requirements of genocide, as pointed out by analysts and international law experts.
In an interview with Israeli historian Raz Segal, a professor at Stockton University specializing in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, he points out that "Israel is deeply engrossed in genocidal discourse, visible in media, politics, and public life."
He also mentioned large banners on bridges and roads calling for the flattening and destruction of Gaza, adding, "You don't need a degree in comparative literature to interpret such signs."
On December 12th, Segal, speaking outside the UN headquarters in New York, urged that "there must be intent and action to label the events as genocide under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as many statements by Israeli leaders reveal an intention to destroy the Palestinian people."
Reactions included Craig Mokhiber, a lawyer and former director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, resigning on October 31st, protesting the silence over what he called "a quintessential case of genocide in Gaza." Former Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, also referred on October 17th to "the crimes committed by Israel that could constitute a case of genocide."
A session of the International Court of Justice reviewing Iran's case against the United States in 2018 (Social Media).
A Step in a Long Journey
The panel of the International Court of Justice, comprising 15 judges plus one ad hoc judge from each party involved (Israel and South Africa), will consider the charge of genocide in Gaza against Israel. They will set dates for the trial's commencement and the interim (emergency) measures requested by South Africa to safeguard Palestinians in Gaza, including halting military operations, allowing the forcibly displaced to return, and immediate entry of humanitarian aid.
Under precautionary procedures, the court must first ascertain whether it has jurisdiction over the lawsuit and whether the actions attributed to Israel violate the Genocide Convention.
South Africa and Israel will each have two hours on January 11th and 12th to present the legal arguments for and against the adoption of provisional or emergency measures, with the attendance of their international legal teams. Commonly, the court signals these measures by instructing a state (Israel, in this case) to refrain from any action that might exacerbate the dispute.
A final verdict on the genocide accusations will not be issued until a session is appointed and held to fully hear the case, which, according to legal experts, could take years.
Although the ICJ's judgments are final and not subject to appeal, there is no mechanism to enforce or compel adherence to them. Nevertheless, a ruling against Israel could create a legal precedent and further isolate Israel, damaging its international reputation.
