A good three months after the start of the Gaza war against the Islamist Hamas, Israel has to answer for the military operation before an international court for the first time. South Africa had sued Israel at the International Court of Justice based in The Hague and accused it of genocide. The hearings have now been scheduled for January 11th and 12th, as the highest UN court decided on Wednesday evening in The Hague.
South Africa invoked the Genocide Convention in its December 29 lawsuit. Both states have signed this convention. From South Africa’s perspective, the UN judges should urgently order an end to the violence against Palestinians in order to protect their rights.
Israel is coming under increasing criticism
The Gaza war was triggered by the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on October 7th. They murdered more than 1,200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. The goal is the complete destruction of Hamas. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.
According to South Africa, Israel’s attacks “have a genocidal character” as they were aimed at the extermination of Palestinians in the area. Israel firmly rejected the allegations.
Explosive statements from the government
However, statements by Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from the right-wing extremist party Otzma Jehudit and from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from the right-wing extremist Religious Zionist Party of Israel could cause further problems in the proceedings in The Hague: Both had spoken about a possible expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip other countries speculated. The USA, the EU and countries such as Germany and France strongly rejected the statements.
Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party also criticized his cabinet colleagues and denied that Israel was involved in such talks. “It is clear that no one in Israel would be sad if they (the Palestinians) left voluntarily. But that is not realistic and the international community would not accept it either,” he told the ynet news site. Such topics should not be discussed on an open stage.
The Court is the highest court of the United Nations and is intended to adjudicate in conflicts between states. Judgments are binding. However, the UN judges themselves have no way of enforcing judgments. To do this they would have to appeal to the UN Security Council.
