LISTEN: Israel has right to defend itself, ICJ hears
International law expert Professor Malcolm Shaw KC has argued that if South Africa's submission is anything to go by, the true victim of genocide is Israel.
Israel on Friday responded to South Africa's submission at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
This after South Africa presented its case against the State of Israel on Thursday - in which it claims that the country is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
One of the members of the South African legal team, Adila Hassim, said Israel's bombing campaign is aimed at the "destruction of Palestinian life" and had pushed Palestinians "to the brink of famine".
"Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts.”
South Africa accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, saying that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it opened a case at the top UN court.
But Shaw argued that while Israel does not have a right to commit genocide, it should be afforded the right to defend itself against militant group Hamas.
"How could anyone possibly argue that Israel could not defend itself faced with the October 7th atrocity and in the attack against the civilians since? Indeed, a very wide range of states have acknowledged the right to self-defence.”
A representative from Israel's Justice Department, Galit Raguan, told the court that the world had unfairly accused Israel of atrocities caused by Hamas in Gaza.
Raguan's argument mainly centred around the fact that Hamas has not been held accountable for its October 7 attacks, including the continuous attack on infrastructure.
"Damage to civilian structure is another fact claimed by South Africa as evidence of genocide, but South Africa does not consider the sheer extent to which Hamas uses civilian structures for military purposes; houses, UN facilities, schools and shelters are all abused for military purposes by Hamas."
Listen to Galit Raguan below:
