After three months besieging and bombarding the Gaza Strip in its war against Hamas, Israel faced a charge of genocide at the International Court of Justice on Thursday, as South Africa argued that Israel ¡°means to create conditions of death¡± in Gaza, and demanded the court order an emergency suspension of the military campaign.
Presenting their case to a packed courtroom in The Hague, South African lawyers offered as evidence the words of Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said in October that Israel would impose a complete siege on the territory because it was fighting ¡°human animals.¡±
Israel categorically denies the genocide accusation, and is set to present its defense Friday, the second part of the two-day hearing in the United Nations¡¯ top judicial body. The hearings will be the first time that Israel has chosen to defend itself in person in such a setting, a sign of the high stakes of the moment, with Israel¡¯s international reputation falling around much of the world over its campaign¡¯s toll in Gaza.
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