WATCH: Israel responds to South African allegations at ICJ hearing in Hague

By JEREMY SHARON 

Today, 11:00 am

The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the UN, hears South Africa’s oral arguments asking the court to order Israel to halt its military campaign against Hamas, May 16, 2024. (International Court of Justice)

Israel’s legal team begins its response to South Africa’s fourth attempt to have the International Court of Justice halt the IDF’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, in a second day of hearings in the Hague.

South Africa alleged yesterday that Israel’s current offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah is Jerusalem’s “end game” in its effort to commit genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza by destroying what the South African team described as the last habitable area of the coastal enclave.

Israel will likely point to the delivery of humanitarian aid through various crossings into Gaza which it facilitates as proof that it has no wish to harm the Palestinian civilian population, as well as its assistance in setting up field hospitals in Gaza, and other humanitarian efforts.

Israel’s team will need to rebut South African claims that recent inflammatory comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich about destroying Rafah and other Gazan cities, and a video played by the South African team in court yesterday showing IDF soldiers singing that they will “dismantle Rafah,” constitute genocidal intent by Israel towards Palestinians.