South Africa launches case at UN court accusing Israel of breaching Genocide Convention

Key PointsSouth Africa has filed a case in the ICJ accusing Israel of breaching its 1948 Genocide Convention obligations.Israel has rejected South Africa’s case, calling it baseless.The United Nations said Israeli soldiers recently fired at an aid convoy in Gaza, without causing any casualties.

Fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing have struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, after nearly 200 people were reported killed in 24 hours in Israel’s campaign against Hamas militants.

The sound of shooting on Friday night indicated fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in Khan Younis, some residents said. Planes also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.

Israeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city, swathes of which they captured in early December.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said troops were reaching Hamas command centres and arms depots. The Israeli military also said it had destroyed a tunnel complex in the basement of one of the houses of the Hamas leader for Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City.

South Africa asks for UN court ruling

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke from Israeli bombardment covering the skyline of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on 29 December. Source: Getty / AFP

South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice for an urgent order declaring that Israel is

in its crackdown against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

The ICJ, sometimes known as the World Court, is the United Nations’ venue for resolving disputes between states.

The current escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October when militants of the Islamist group Hamas killed 1,200 people in a cross-border attack and seized 240 hostages by Israel’s count.

Israel has responded with an assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, killing more than 21,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.

Israel rejected South Africa’s launch of a genocide case against it on Friday as a baseless “blood libel” with no legal merit and said it was abiding by international law in its war on Hamas.

“South Africa is collaborating with a terrorist group that calls for Israel’s destruction,” a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said.

South Africa’s filing alleged Israel was violating its obligations under the treaty which makes it a crime to attempt to destroy a people in whole or in part.

It asked the court to issue provisional, or short-term, measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, which it said were “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people”.

No date has been set for a hearing.

In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories dating back to 2014, including the recent attacks of both Israel and Hamas.

Gazans living in Khan Younis move to the southern city of Rafah. Source: Getty / Anadolu

The war between Hamas and Israel is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict.

Hamas is a Palestinian political and military group, which has governed the Gaza Strip since the most recent elections in 2006.

Hamas stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.

Hamas in its entirety is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and seven other countries, including Australia.

The UN Assembly rejected classifying Hamas as a terrorist group in a 2018 vote.

What constitutes genocide under international law?

The United Nations General Assembly declared genocide a crime under international law in 1946.

Article Two of the Convention specifies it as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

These acts include killing members of the group, causing bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions that bring about destruction or prevent births and the forceful transfer of children.

Member states, which includes Israel, have an obligation to enforce the convention by not committing the acts, but also recognising genocide and punishing the actor.

Sarah Williams, a professor of international law at the University of New South Wales, said what gets investigated is the dolus specialis – or “specific intent” – of the acts towards a group of a particular race, nationality, ethnicity or religious group.

“You have to both intend to do what you’re doing, and also intend to do it because it’s going to allow you to destroy a group,” she told SBS News in November.

“So if you’re doing any of those actions for other reasons, then it wouldn’t be genocide.

“It’s a very hard crime to actually establish because you need that particular intent.”

She said historically, states were reluctant to declare genocide, which would force them to collectively take action in terms of punishing and prosecuting it.

Juliette McIntyre, lecturer of law at the University of South Australia, said allegations and evidence of genocide have to be put before a court for examination.

Multiple sources can be used to prove a crime, including statements from public officials, information from non-government organisations, social media posts, information from other states and reports from refugees or people who fled the conflict.

While the ICJ in The Hague is considered the UN’s highest court, its rulings are sometimes ignored.

In March 2022 the court ordered Russia to immediately halt its military campaign in Ukraine.

UN says aid convoy came under fire from Israeli soldiers

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said on Friday an aid convoy came under fire from Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, without causing any casualties.

“Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli army — our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage,” UNRWA’s director in Gaza, Tom White, wrote on X.

According to UNRWA, the incident took place on Thursday afternoon.

Responding to requests for comment, the Israeli military said it was looking into reports about the incident.

Earlier on Friday, the UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, described on X “an impossible situation for the people of Gaza, and for those trying to help them”.

Israeli officials have laid the blame for the limited humanitarian deliveries into Gaza on aid agencies themselves.

Earlier this month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed there had been “a failure by the United Nations predominantly, and other partners in the inflow of trucks into Gaza”.

The Israeli military body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, took a swipe at UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini on Sunday regarding aid flow.

“Right now, hundreds of trucks after inspection are waiting on the Egyptian side to be received up by your organisation,” COGAT wrote on X.

“Instead of tweeting, come work with us to increase humanitarian aid. We are ready. Are you?

Lazzarini responded on Friday, describing as “baseless misinformation” the remarks by Israeli officials who he said “have insinuated or directly held UNRWA responsible for gaps in aid deliveries”.

“The delivery of much needed and urgent aid continues to be limited in quantities and riddled with logistical hurdles,” he said in a statement.

Lazzarini described “a state of despair” in Gaza, with Palestinians going to UNRWA warehouses “to take supplies or interrupt aid trucks picking food to eat on the spot”.

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