Earlier this month South Africa took the bold and controversial step of filing a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel Africa over its war with Palestinians in Gaza. In its lawsuit South Africa alleges Israel’s conduct in Gaza violates its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and by failing to prevent it. The application concludes by requesting, among other measures, that Israel immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza.
An accusation of genocide is a very serious matter. Genocide is the intentional and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group. It involves acts such as killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, or deliberately inflicting conditions leading to the group’s physical destruction.
Such acts of genocide have occurred often in history, but it was the wanton killing of over 6 million Jews by Germans during the Holocaust of World War II, that gave prominence to the term. In the past century, apart from the Holocaust, there was the Armenian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Bosnian Genocide. Unfortunately, there were other incidents. The frequency of such incidents highlights the ongoing challenges in preventing and addressing genocide.
It is arguable if Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. In its reprisal for the killing of some 2,000 civilians in Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed over 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa argues this meets the interpretation of genocide. South Africa’s application also argues “Israel also injured over 60,000 other Palestinians and has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, including entire neighborhoods, and damaged or destroyed in excess of 355,000 Palestinian homes.” While the application condemns Hamas’s targeting of civilians and hostage-taking in Israel on October 7 it argues “no armed attack on a State’s territory, no matter how serious, even an attack involving atrocity crimes, …… provide any possible justification for, or defense to, breaches” of the Genocide Convention.
Clearly, Israel finds the accusation of genocide deplorable. Israel calls the accusations absurd and antisemitic slander against Jews. Israel’s prime minister has outrightly rejected the accusation and in the aftermath of South Africa’s filing, vowed to continue the war against Hamas in Gaza, although it was recently reported he is considering a two-month ceasefire in the war.
Some people are of the opinion South Africa’s lawsuit is meaningless. After all, they claim, the ICJ has no power to stop Israel’s actions. But there’s another opinion that South Africa’s actions is drawing international attention to what seems as undue cruelty against Palestinians in Gaza by Israel. Most countries are not criticizing Israel for its mission to eliminate Hamas, but for what seems like its inconsideration for the life and wellbeing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Interestingly, the Western World, led by the USA, has shown little or no support for the South African lawsuit. The USA has made it clear it doesn’t see Israel’s action in Gaza as genocide.
To many people, it isn’t surprising the USA doesn’t see Israel’s actions as genocide. In its quest to be, and maintain its status as, a superpower, America has used tactics that could be considered genocide. These include American settlers hunting down and eliminating the population of Native Americans, and the US military killing thousands of citizens in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Japan. None of these were officially considered genocide, but rather brilliant strategies of warfare as America sought to defend itself. It must be noted U.S. law makes genocide, and incitement to genocide, a criminal offense, but there are no known records that have accused America of having committed genocide.
In accordance to how the ICJ operates in lawsuits filed with it, it will continue to hold public hearings on South Africa’s application and will eventually deliver its final judgment on whether Israel’s acts amount to genocide. But this judgment could take years to be delivered.
It’s not expected South Africa’s lawsuit will see Israel ending the war against Hamas, but the lawsuit has succeeded in bringing the world’s attention to claims that Israel’s military intervention is being conducted in violation of international law, and, specifically, claims involving the Genocide Convention. Moreover, it’s obvious some countries see merit in South Africa’s claims. Earlier this week Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister announced his country is considering joining South Africa’s lawsuit at the ICJ. This announcement follows Belgium’s earlier confirmation in support for the lawsuit.
While it’s accepted any judgment by the ICJ in South Africa’s lawsuit could take years and will be too late to have an impact on the current Israel-Hamas war, many people globally hope an ICJ ruling will emphatically condemn and outlaw genocide, even as a war strategy. The deliberate and wanton elimination of thousands of people in the modern world is fundamentally wrong and cannot be condoned.
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