Beyza Binnur Donmez
11 January 2024•Update: 11 January 2024
GENEVA
- He warns that scale of Israeli actions is 'reminiscent of Rwandan genocide 10 years ago'
Following its verbal argument at the world court, South Africa believes that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its verdict "within reasonable time."
"We believe the court has heard our sight. They understand the urgency and they will deliver the verdict within reasonable time," Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, who is leading the South African delegation, told reporters.
"The commitment to justice and bring an end to the humanitarian atrocities in Palestine resonate deeply with the collective consciousness of the global community," Lamola said, as he warned that "the scale of these actions is reminiscent of the Rwandan genocide 10 years ago."
South Africa, he said, are at the ICJ not only on behalf of itself but also on behalf of the global community, seeking "to ensure a lasting and durable peace that produces a viable, contiguous Palestinian state coexisting side by side in peace with Israel within the 1967 internationally recognized borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Public hearings in the genocide case against Israel began on Thursday at the ICJ in The Hague, the Netherlands.
On the first day of the trial, South Africa presented hard evidence in the case it filed on Dec. 29, accusing Israel of genocide and violation of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention with its actions in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
The South African side is requesting an injunction by the top UN court to halt Israel's military assault on Gaza, which has dragged on for more than three months, with the death toll rising to over 23,300.
The 84-page filing by South Africa accuses Israel of acts and omissions "genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent ... to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."
It said Israel's genocidal acts include the killing of Palestinians, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, mass expulsion from homes and displacement, imposing measures intended to prevent Palestinian births, and deprivation of access to adequate food, water, shelter, sanitation, and medical assistance.
Thursday's hearing will be followed by Israel's arguments in its defense the next day.
