12 January 2024
International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday heard South Africa’s strong arguments against Israel’s genocidal crimes against Palestinians in the ongoing Gaza war, which has killed 23,500 innocent citizens, and will hear Israel’s response today.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s president said Thursday that he was pleased with how his country’s legal team argued its case at the ICJ against Israel for allegedly committing genocide in Gaza.
“I have never felt as proud as I felt today when our legal team was arguing our case in The Hague,” said Cyril Ramaphosa, addressing the Women’s League of his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.
Ramaphosa said his country had put together a strong team of lawyers to represent South Africa’s case at the top UN court in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Many legal experts across the world said Thursday that South Africa’s legal team presented a strong case backed with evidence.
South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, who is leading the South African delegation to The Hague, told reporters: “We believe the court has heard our sight. They understand the urgency, and they will deliver the verdict within reasonable time.”
The 84-page filing by South Africa accuses Israel of acts and omissions that are “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 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.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also following South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, an official said Thursday.
“The Secretary-General has full respect for the independence of the court, its proceedings and its decisions,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a leading figure of the French left, reportedly reached The Hague on Thursday to participate in a major international initiative for peace in Gaza.
In a statement, the founder of France Unbowed (LFI) stated that he was invited by the Progressive International Movement, a group of progressive left-wing organizations and activists, to attend the first hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Melenchon is representing France in a South African delegation at the top UN court.
In a statement, Melenchon explained that this referral to the top court is part of the 1948 Charter for the Prevention and Prohibition of Genocides, ratified by the two concerned countries and France. The goal is to put an end to the current hostilities in Gaza, according to the French opposition leader.
Accompanied by Arnaud Le Gall, LFI deputy and coordinator at the French National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Melenchon emphasized his commitment to respecting the international law order established by the UN.
He highlighted his party’s choice for an approach based on “unwavering political principles, regardless of the actors involved”, and a rejection of forceful policies or conflictual theories such as the “clash of civilizations.”
He claims to represent, through this initiative, all French people who favor peace and political solutions over war and violence.
The relentless bombings by the Israeli armed forces have caused “massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster,” according to UN and Palestinian sources.
Interviewed this Tuesday by Anadolu, the president of LFI in the French National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, recalled that 160 children died every day in the Gaza Strip in December 2023.
Describing a “horrifying” situation in Gaza, Panot called on the French Executive to seize the opportunity of its current presidency of the United Nations Security Council “to advance the issue of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in Palestine.
The leader of the LFI deputies also called on France to “support the initiative taken by South Africa,” which filed a complaint on Dec. 29, 2023, against Israel for “genocide” in Gaza at the ICJ.
