SA distorting statements made by Israeli leaders to claim genocidal intent in Gaza, ICJ hears
Israel's foreign ministry legal advisor, Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, told the court that South Africa's submission amounted to grandstanding and rhetoric.
Members of the delegation of Israel on 16 May 2024 at the ICJ hearing in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip. Picture: UN Photo/ICJ/Wendy van Bree
CAPE TOWN - Israel has accused South Africa of distorting statements made by its leaders to claim genocidal intent for its military operations in Gaza.
In its submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday, Israel alleged that South Africa had approached the court to advantage Palestinian militant group, Hamas.
South Africa has asked the court to order a stop to Israel’s military assault on the city of Rafah, where thousands of Palestinians have been seeking refuge from the war.
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Government has until Monday to file written responses to Israel's submission in which it accused South Africa of abusing court processes and asking it to "micromanage" a war.
On Thursday, South African lawyer, Tembeka Ngcukatoibi, told the world’s highest court that Israel had over the last seven months been acting with genocidal intent against Palestinians in Gaza.
"Rafah is the final stand. Without Rafah, there is no more Palestinian life in Gaza to speak of. No more Palestinian identity and no possibility of reconstruction."
But on Friday, Israel said that South Africa's picture was an inversion of reality and divorced from facts.
Israel's foreign ministry legal advisor, Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, told the court that South Africa's submission amounted to grandstanding and rhetoric.
"It will have you say that a sovereign state that is under a persistent attack, whose citizens are held hostage is not allowed to defend itself or its citizens."
Following Israel’s closing remarks, Judge Georg Nolte questioned its officials about humanitarian conditions in its evacuation spaces in Gaza.
The court expects a response to this question in writing by noon on Saturday.
The court said it would deliver its ruling on this latest request for provisional measures in a public session, on a date still to be determined.
South Africa has until late October to file its memorial in its main genocide case against Israel.