LIVE BLOG: ICJ hears Israel’s defence against South Africa’s genocide claims
It’s day two of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing into claims of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel.
Get caught up on yesterday’s proceedings by clicking here.
Follow IOL’s blow-by-blow account of Israel’s defence against the claims below.
WATCH: Day two of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing into claims of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel
14h20: Proceedings come to a close.
Israel argues South Africa failed to prove urgency of its case, maintains Hamas is the enemy
Gilad Noam, Deputy Attorney-General for International Law at the Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel, concluded the case on behalf of Israel, where he asserted that South Africa failed to demonstrate a genuine dispute between the two countries and did not establish "prima facie" rights deserving protection.
Noam argued that the events in question were part of a conflict initiated by Hamas, asserting that they do not fall within the scope of the Genocide Convention.
According to Noam, South Africa did not prove the urgency of its case or show that stopping the Gaza war would not result in irreparable harm to Israel. He emphasised that Israel consistently takes measures to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza and deems the provisional measures sought by South Africa as "unwarranted and prejudicial".
Read the full story here
13h56: Israeli deputy attorney general Gilad Noam takes the stand.
Gilad Noam, Deputy Attorney General for International Law, Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel made closing comments.
"It's unrealistic to say Israel is not a moral country, and has suddenly become a genocidal state hellbent on the extermination of the Palestinian people."
He defended Israel against the charge of genocide, saying the Nakba was a war ‘forced upon Israel’.
Like Staker, Noam said South Africa has failed to show that “provisional measures” should be put in place to protect Palestinians in Gaza from further harm.
"South Africa portrayed Israel as a lawless state that regards itself as beyond and above the law…. in which the entire society” has “become consumed with destroying an entire population.”
He says this is false.
Noam says South Africa has defamed not only the Israel leadership but also Israeli society.
Noam says “harsh” statements by Israel’s leaders cited by SA are a response to the “destruction of Jews and Israelis”.
Israel legal team member tells ICJ why SA’s requested measures ‘should be rejected’
Member of the Bar of England and Wales and a representative of Israel’s legal team, Christopher Staker, took to the stand on Friday to explain why Israel cannot suspend the military invasion of Gaza.
Staker argued that the provisional measures South Africa asked for were not to prevent a genocide in terms of the Genocide Convention but to stop Israel’s military operations, which he calls “unwarranted and prejudicial” to Israel.
Read the full story here.
‘We dropped leaflets and phoned civilians to warn them about attacks’ - Israel says its efforts to minimise civilian harm must not go unnoticed
Israel has maintained its argument that South Africa’s call for it to be charged with genocide in the face of a number of extensive efforts to minimise civilian harm and assist in bringing humanitarian aid into Gaza, this was “frankly untenable”.
Read the full story here.
13h28: Christopher Staker for Israel says it's astonishing for SA to ask for a ceasefire or a “unilateral stop from one party to the conflict leaving the other free to continue”.
Staker argues that the pictures shown yesterday of military operations do not show a plausible intent of genocide.
“It's absurd to suggest that the only way to observe the genocide convention is to prevent the action to be conducted at all,” says Staker, suggesting that stopping military actions is “not the only possibility to prevent genocide therefore there is no reason for the provisional measures”.
Staker says provisional measures would cause irreparable harm to Israel.
Staker says suspension of military operations would “deprive Israel of the ability to contend with the security threat against it”. He says suspension of military activities would allow Hamas to commit further atrocities and would allow Hamas to use hostages as bargaining chips.
13h15: Omri Sender, attorney from Tel Aviv has now taken the stand.
He tells the court that South Africa's case is "terribly one sided" and makes no mention of the "extraordinary efforts" taken by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation.
Sender says Israel has made a great effort invested in eliminating bottleneck to improve entrance and distribution of aid "not withstanding" Hamas constantly stealing it.
Sender tells the court that Israel has just this week entered Northern Gaza to evaluate the situation and map the needs for the future return of Palestinian civilians.
He says all these recent developments, that the facts, do not call for rewarding interim relief.
12h50: The sitting has resumed. Galit Raguan has taken the stand.
Raguan says Gaza's infrastructure has certainly been harmed in the conflict but it was not evidence of genocide. The allegations that Israel levelled an assault on Gaza's medical stations does not include Hamas' use of those hospitals.
Raguan claims that SA failed to show the extent to which Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes, including using hospitals as a shield for their military purposes.
Raguan says while damage has occurred sometimes by Israeli Defence Force and sometimes by Hamas "but always as a direct result of Hamas' abhorrent method of warfare".
Raguan tells the court that Hamas' strategy includes turning hospitals into terrorist compounds. She says Hamas has regularly and deliberately fired from "safe and humanitarian zones".
Raguan accuses Hamas of using the civilians as shields. She says Hamas has even attacked IDF forces securing humanitarian zones.
Raguan says IDF has "dropped millions of leaflets" over areas of expected attacks with instructions to evacuate and how to do so, broadcast over radio and made over 7,000 telephone calls warning civilians of attacks.
Raguan says there is no question that millions of citizens are suffering in Gaza. She says the IDF is seeking to minimise civilian harm but Hamas is using every way to use Gaza infrastructure and civilians as shields.
She says the charge of genocide in the face of "these extensive efforts" is untenable. Raguan says it's an "inconvenient truth" for South Africa's case.
SA vs Israel: The attack on October 7 was the real genocide, says Israel legal team
Israel's lead counsel Malcolm Shaw was one several representatives of Israel’s legal team to take the stand on Friday in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide hearing against them.
Read the full story here.
Israel takes the stand at ICJ, says it has ‘inherent right’ to defend its citizens
The legal team for the State of Israel took the stand at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to counter South Africa’s genocide allegations in The Hague on Friday.
Tal Becker, Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, told the court that Israel was defending itself in a war “it did not start nor want” and South Africa's request to indicate a provisional measure to suspend its military operation amounted to an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligation to defend its citizens.
Read the full story here.
12h30: Coffee Break
11h37: Israel's lead counsel Malcolm Shaw is going to argue prima facie jurisdiction over the rights that South Africa's request seeks to protect.
Shaw calls the October 7 attack "the real genocide in this situation”.
“Israel has the right to defend itself in line with humanitarian law.”
Shaw’s arguments are currently focused on proving there is no “dispute” between Israel and South Africa regarding the Genocide Convention, instead calling it a “unispute”.
“I’ve lost a page.” - Shaw chuckles, shuffling his papers.
“It is not easy to determine whether a prima facie case exists. There has to be something tangible in the provisions in question,” Shaw says.
The actions of a IDF solider cannot reflect policy, says Shaw after South Africa on Thursday argued that IDF soliders are taking orders in terms of genocidal intent.
Shaw reiterates that the attacks are for Hamas and not civilians.
Shaw speaks briefly on the 'Amalek' reference: “There is no need here for a theological discussion that was misunderstood by South Africa,” and explains how the statement by the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was clearly in reference to Hamas.
He reiterates that October 7 was the “real genocide”, by saying “if there is any genocidal intent, it is the events of October 7”.
11h07: Day 2 at the International Court of Justice in The Hague has begun. Today, we hear the Israeli State's case. First on the stand is Israel's co-agent Tal Becker addressing the court.
Becker tells the court that given the Jewish peoples history, it's not surprising why Israel was one of the first to sign the Genocide Convention.
He says this is a war where Israel is defending itself against Hamas, Palestinian Jihad and other terrorist groups.
"The civilians suffering in this war, like all wars, is tragic and heartbreaking," he says.
Becker says Israel is defending itself in a war it did not start or want.
Becker, on behalf of Israel, tells the court that South Africa has put before the court a profoundly distorted factual an legal picture. The entirely of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualised and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities.
Becker talks about the Hamas attack on October 7. He says over 20 Israeli spaces were invaded describing the attack as "wholesale massacre, mutilation, rape and abduction" of as many Israeli citizens. Becker reports that 1200 people were butchered that day, more than 5500 maimed and 240 hostages abducted including infants, entire families and holocaust survivors.
Some of the surviving families of those who were attacked on that day are present in the The Hague currently, Becker says.
Becker, who is delivering the opening remarks of the Israeli State's case at the ICJ, says Israel has the inherent right to take all legitimate measures to defend its citizens and secure the release of the hostages taken in the October 7 attack.
He says South Africa's request to indicate a provisional measure to suspend its military operation amounts to an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligation to defend its citizens.
Becker now accuses South Africa of enjoying close relations with Hamas. He says these relations continued unabated even after October 7.
A slideshow of images of hostages and those attacked by Hamas was played in the ICJ. Becker says South Africa has treated these hostages as an "afterthought".
The Government of the State of Israel is represented by:
Mr Gilad Noam, Deputy Attorney General for International Law, Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel,
Mr Tal Becker, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel,
Ms Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, Principal Deputy Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, as Co-Agents;
Ms Avigail Frisch Ben Avraham, Legal Adviser, Embassy of Israel in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as Deputy Agent;
HE Mr Modi Moshe Ephraim, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Mr Yaron Wax, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Israel in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as National Authorities;
Mr Malcolm Shaw, KC, Emeritus Sir Robert Jennings Professor of International Law, University of Leicester; associate member of the Institut de droit international, member of the Bar of England and Wales,
Mr Christopher Staker, 39 Essex Chambers, member of the Bar of England and Wales,
Mr Omri Sender, Attorney at Law, S. Horowitz & Co, Tel Aviv,
Mr Galit Raguan, Director of the International Justice Division, Office of the Deputy Attorney General for International Law, Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel, as Counsel and Advocates;
Mr Eyal Benvenisti, Whewell Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge, Fellow and former Director, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, member of the Institut de droit international and of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities,
Mr Daniel Geron, Senior Director of Global Justice Policy, National Security Council, Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel,
Mr Amit Heumann, Director of the International Law Department, Office of the Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel,
Mr Eyal Benvenisti, Whewell Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge, Fellow and former Director, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, member of the Institut de droit international and of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities,
Mr Daniel Geron, Senior Director of Global Justice Policy, National Security Council, Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel,
Mr Amit Heumann, Director of the International Law Department, Office of the Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, as Counsel.
Israel legal team to take the stand at Day 2 of ICJ genocide hearing
Israel is set to take the stand on Friday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the genocide hearing against them.
Friday is the second and last day of the hearings as the global community heard oral observations from South Africa’s legal team on Thursday.
Read the full story here.
SA vs Israel: Key takeaways from day one of South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel
Read the full story here.
Israel accuses South Africa of being ‘legal arm of Hamas’ at ICJ
In a dramatic turn of events at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Israel and South Africa engaged in the first session of arguments as the court opened hearings on a case brought forward by Pretoria, accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel, in response, released a strong statement, accusing South Africa of acting as the "legal arm" of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Read the full story here.
President Cyril Ramaphosa hails South African legal team as it argues case at International Court of Justice
African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the South African legal team for representing the country well in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands.
“I must say that I have never felt as proud as I felt today when our legal team was arguing our case in the Hague and I never felt as proud when I see Ronald Lamola the son of this province [Mpumalanga] standing there in that court introducing our case,” Ramaphosa said.
Read the full story here.