Opens The trial of the allegations of genocide in Gaza against Israel is taking place in The Hague. Today and tomorrow, that International Court of Justice will indeed hold Public hearings on South Africa's application in the case against the Jewish state. The hearings, a statement from the court said in recent days, “will address the request for interim measures contained in South Africa's application.”
In particular, Pretoria asked the court to specify interim measures to “protect against further, serious and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention”. and “ensuring that Israel complies with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish genocide.”
Israel will then appear before the International Court of Justice A case that could determine the course of the war in Gaza. As CNN reminds, it is an unprecedented episode: experts explain that it is in fact the first time that the Jewish state has been prosecuted under the United Nations Genocide Convention, drawn up after World War II in light of the atrocities committed against it the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called it “wrong,” have now firmly rejected the South African government’s accusation. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday his country would present a case of “self-defense” to show it was doing “its utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.
L'Former Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak, 87, will be Israel's choice for the International Court of Justice's 15-member panel The Hague, which will deal with the allegations. Both countries, the prosecutor and the accused, have the right to choose one of the judges.
Barak, a Holocaust survivor, was Israel's attorney general and Supreme Court justice. Now retired, he is an internationally respected judge who is certainly not close to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, notes the Times of Israel. Professor Malcolm Shaw, an expert in international law, will defend Israel at the Hague court.
UN: “Destruction of houses is evidence of genocide”
The destruction of homes in Gaza is evidence of genocide. This was stated by Balakrishnan Rajagopal, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, adding that about 56% of houses in Gaza were destroyed or damaged.
“The northern part of the Gaza Strip is the most affected, where 82% of houses are destroyed or damaged,” he continued. The International Court of Justice should consider this, in addition to South Africa’s documented public statements, as evidence of genocide.”
Usage: “Unfounded accusations”
The United States does not consider Gaza to be an “act that constitutes genocide.” In a briefing with reporters, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “These are allegations that should not be made lightly… We do not see any act that constitutes genocide… This is the State Department's decision.”
“We believe that the presentation against Israel at the International Court of Justice only serves to distract the world,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv yesterday, noting that the genocide allegations made by South Africa were “baseless.” .
“This is particularly troubling given that those who attack Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their sponsor Iran, continue to openly call for the obliteration of Israel and the mass murder of Jews,” Blinken said.
Hamas: “Court will not give in to US pressure”
“We ask the International Court of Justice not to give in to pressure from the American government, which is a partner in the continuation of the war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” demanded a member of Hamas' political bureau, Osama Hamdan.
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