The acts of genocide were committed by Hamas against Israel and not the other way around. In its defense before the judges of the Hague Court, the Jewish state responded to South Africa's complaints by claiming that the prosecution had presented “no evidence” of the alleged genocide attempts in Gaza, but “only evidence of a moral defensive war in the absence of evidence.” “. another one.
On the second day of the hearing, six Latin American countries sided with South AfricaIsrael's defense team, led by Foreign Ministry legal adviser Tal Becker, warned judges that the Pretoria officials presented “a deeply distorted factual and legal picture.” “The entire case – he added – is based on a deliberately decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities.”
Becker then described the “massive massacres, mutilations, rapes and kidnappings.” carried out by Hamas on October 7, warning that “if there were acts of genocide, they were committed against Israel.”
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To back up his words, Becker played the court a recording from Oct. 7 in an Israeli kibbutz in which a Hamas terrorist boasts about killing Jews. He then showed the judges an interview in which a Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, swore that the Oct. 7 attack on Israel was only the beginning of the country's “annihilation.”
Israel has also denied allegations of targeting civilians in Gaza. “Hamas,” denounced Becker, “has systematically and illegally integrated its military structure into schools, mosques, hospitals and other sensitive locations. A planned and disgusting method of war.” Essentially, South Africa – summarized the other defender, the Englishman Malcom Shaw – “only told half the story” and left out the Hamas attack on Israel. He then drew the court's attention to South Africa's use of the term genocide. “Not all conflicts – he explained – are genocide. The crime of genocide is a purely malicious crime. It is the crime of crimes.” “If accusations of genocide – whenever and wherever it occurs – were to become common currency in armed conflict, the essence of this crime would be diluted and lost.”
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In its rejoinder, Israel warned that it is not the statements of individual politicians or soldiers that should be taken into account as evidence of “genocidal intentions” (as South Africa claims), but rather those of the government. “Military statements – explained Shaw – do not represent the line of conduct: what comes from the Chief of Staff of the Army clearly shows the intention to prevent and reduce civilian casualties and to adhere to the rules of war.”
For Israel, South Africa's statement is therefore nothing more than “a pamphlet” that Israeli Foreign Minister Katz hoped the court would “reject.”
He then attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan who took action against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Let’s not forget the Armenian genocide,” Katz told Erdogan, “nor the massacres of the Kurds. They have destroyed a people. We defend ourselves against your barbaric friends.” Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela have adopted the Pretoria Initiative in The Hague, albeit with different initiatives, calling it a “historic step”. And the U.N. human rights office said Israel had repeatedly violated international humanitarian law with its offensive in Gaza. On the war front, Israel announced that medicine would be distributed to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza under a deal brokered by Qatar.
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