Last updated: 12.01.2024, 07:41 a.m.
By: Jens Kiffmeier, Lisa Mahnke
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Vusimuzi Madonsela (front, right), Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to the Netherlands, and Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Prison of South Africa, at the opening of the hearing at the International Court of Justice. © Patrick Post
Israel must answer to the courts. The accusation of genocide weighs heavily. An expedited procedure in South Africa is intended to enable rapid action.
- Accusations against Israel: Habeck shows little understanding
- U.S. takes a stand: Washington backs Israel
- Trial in The Hague: Israel must face accusations of genocide
- The Gaza war is occupying the top UN judges. Israel, of all countries, is accused of genocide. It will be difficult to prove. The process is risky for Israel. The latest developments in the news ticker.
Update January 12, 7:35 a.m.: Israel will make its first appearance before the International Court of Justice on the charge of genocide in the Gaza war. Legal representatives want to decisively reject South Africa's lawsuit this Friday in The Hague - and are already talking about unfounded accusations before the date. South Africa accuses Israel of systematically committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The accusation of genocide strikes Israel to the core. After all, the Jewish state had been founded under the impression of the Holocaust after the Second World War. At that time, the German National Socialists had murdered around six million Jews. It was under this impression that the Genocide Convention came into being.
Malcolm Shaw (2nd from left), lawyer from Great Britain, and Tal Becker (l), legal adviser to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the opening of the hearing at the International Court of Justice. © Patrick Post/dpa
South Africa is now invoking this convention, which Israel is also a signatory. According to this, genocide is an act "committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such". But that's hard to prove. The USA, Great Britain and the German government also see no basis for South Africa's lawsuit.
Genocide lawsuit: Netanyahu with sharp criticism
Update January 11, 21:48 p.m.: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sharply criticized South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice. "Today we once again saw an upside-down world in which the State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide," the right-wing conservative politician said on Thursday, according to the dpa news agency. A few hours before Netanyahu's video message, a first hearing in the case had taken place at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Nevertheless, the proceedings will increase the pressure on his government.
Accusation of genocide: Human rights activists welcome tribunal in The Hague against Israel
Update, January 11, 17:37 p.m.: UN human rights experts welcome the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In a tweet sent from the UN headquarters in Geneva, the group of independent special rapporteurs and other mandate holders of the Special Procedure praised South Africa for bringing the case to The Hague "at a time when the rights of Palestinians in #Gaza are being violated with impunity."
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The same group yesterday condemned Israel for an alleged attack in Beirut last week that killed senior Hamas terrorist Saleh al-Arouri and other members of the armed group. Israel will present its lawsuit against Pretoria's accusations tomorrow.
Update January 11, 12:05 p.m.: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has begun hearing a lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel alleging genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In his statement to the UN court, the representative of South Africa accused Israel of "genocidal acts" and compared its treatment of the Palestinians to the apartheid system of racial segregation. Israel denies the accusation. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, like the US government, has also made it clear that she does not share South Africa's accusation.
The hearings are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, followed by the main proceedings. The judgments of the Court of Justice are mainly symbolic, and their actual implementation is difficult to enforce.
Habeck cannot comprehend accusations against Israel
Update January 11, 11:05 a.m.: Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) cannot understand South Africa's accusation of genocide against Israel because of its actions in the Gaza war. He has every empathy with people who are suffering in the Gaza Strip and losing families and children "through this terrible confrontation," the politician said on Thursday during a visit to the Israeli city of Sderot. It is located just a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip and is one of the places attacked by extremist Palestinians on October 7.
Israel knows that it cannot go on like this, Habeck said, referring to the actions of the armed forces. "But genocide is something else, it's the deliberate extermination of ethnic groups or religious communities, the deliberate annihilation."
Genocide Accusation: What Israel Is Accused of
Update January 11, 9:35 a.m.: What exactly is South Africa accusing Israel of? In the 84-page complaint, South Africa describes Israel's violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as acts of genocide. Israel kills Palestinians, "inflicts severe mental and physical harm on them, and creates living conditions aimed at their physical destruction."
South Africa cites the high death toll of more than 21,000 in the Gaza Strip, Israeli bombings, forced displacement, attacks on hospitals and maternity hospitals, and the blockade of the area, which has led to shortages of food and drinking water.
Statements by Israeli ministers are also cited as evidence of the intent to commit genocide. South Africa speaks of "direct and public incitement to genocide". It cites threats to make Gaza uninhabitable, as well as calls by far-right ministers to permanently expel Palestinians. In the wake of the October 7 massacre, in which terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other groups killed more than 1200,250 people and abducted around <> in Israel, Defense Minister Joav Galant spoke of "human animals" and declared: "We will wipe everything out."
Negotiations in The Hague: US backs Israel
Update January 11, 8:30 a.m.: Before the start of the proceedings in The Hague, the United States has taken a clear position. Washington rejects South Africa's accusations that Israel is committing genocide. "In fact, it is those who violently attack Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews," says US State Department spokesman Matt Miller. He emphasizes Israel's "right to defend itself against Hamas' terrorist acts."
Israel faces genocide charges in The Hague
Initial report: The Hague – As of Thursday (11 January), Israel will have to answer to the International Court of Justice for the first time. The state was accused of violating the UN Genocide Convention in its military action in the Gaza Strip. South Africa indicted Israel on December 29, 2023, in an emergency application.
Among other things, the motion demanded an immediate end to the military operation. Thus, the accusation of genocide is not the main part of the complaint, but part of the reasoning. Before the judges can rule on the conflict between Israel and South Africa, a possible violation of the Genocide Convention must first be evaluated.
Many deaths in Gaza – South Africa sees "broader context"
South Africa justified the accusation of genocide by, among other things, high numbers of civilian Palestinian casualties caused by Israeli military violence. According to the report, more than 7,21 Palestinian victims have fallen since the beginning of the war on October 000. Israel, on the other hand, reaffirmed the right to self-defense after the Hamas attack in which around 1200,250 people were killed and <> people were kidnapped. About half of the people have been released so far.
The lawsuit also included expulsions and mass expulsions, as well as the deprivation of food, medicine and hygiene. According to South Africa, Israel's actions can be placed in a "broader context of Israel's behavior toward the Palestinians during its 75-year apartheid, its 56-year warlike occupation of the Palestinian territories, and its 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip," according to Human Rights Watch.
"Interim Measures" by Summary Proceedings – Main Proceedings on Israel May Take Years
High-level delegations of legal experts will accompany the two countries to The Hague. South Africa will have the floor on Thursday, followed by Israel's reaction on Friday. The decision on the urgent application for "interim measures" is expected in a few weeks, while the main proceedings on the genocide accusation may drag on for several years. In the urgent application, South Africa also called for the preservation of evidence and access for fact-finding missions that could help with a longer judicial process.
In the past few months, accusations of war crimes by Israel have surfaced repeatedly. According to Der Spiegel, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed the idea of promoting the "resettlement of the residents of the Gaza Strip." At the same time, there are accusations about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. (With agency material)