TEMPO.CO, The Hague - Israel prepared to defend itself on Thursday, Jan. 11, at the top U.N. court against accusations of genocide in Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time publicly rebuffed calls by some right-wing ministers to permanently occupy the enclave.
As Israel's war against Hamas militants rages in Gaza, where Palestinian officials say 23,000 have been killed, the International Court of Justice in the Hague was set to open two days of hearings in a case brought by South Africa in December claiming the war violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
"Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday of the genocide accusations, rejected by Israel and its top backer, the United States.
"As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism, and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will stand on the right side of history," Ramaphosa said.
For almost half a century until 1994, South Africa's white minority imposed harsh rule on the Black majority under the apartheid system of racial separation.
In its 84-page filing South Africa says that by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious mental and bodily harm, and by creating conditions "calculated to bring about their physical destruction", Israel is committing genocide against them.
The 1948 treaty defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".
Ahead of the hearings, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said: "The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel, as Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas rapist regime."
The hearings will deal exclusively with South Africa's request for an emergency order that Israel suspend military action in Gaza while the court, also known as the World Court, hears the merits of the case - a process that could take years.
Colombia and Brazil expressed their support for South Africa late on Wednesday.
