By Beyza Binnur Donmez
GENEVA (AA) - Weaponizing the term “genocide” against Israel "averts" the aims of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, Israel contended Friday during its oral arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.
"The Genocide Convention was not designed to address the brutal impact of intensive hostilities on the civilian population," the Israeli delegation to the court argued. "Even when the use of force raises 'very serious issues of international law, and involves an enormous suffering and continuing loss of life'."
"The attempt to weaponize the term genocide against Israel, in the present context averts the object and purpose of the convention itself," it claimed.
The entirety of South Africa's genocide case, presented to the court on Thursday, "hinges on a deliberately curated decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities," Israel argued.
On day one of the trial, South Africa presented hard evidence in the case it filed on Dec. 29, accusing Israel of genocide and violations of the UN Genocide Convention with its actions in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
The South African side is requesting an injunction by the top UN court to halt Israel's military assault on Gaza, which has dragged on for more than three months, with the death toll rising to over 23,000 and nearly 60,000 people injured.
The 84-page filing by South Africa accuses Israel of acts and omissions "genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."
It says Israel's genocidal acts include killing Palestinians, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, mass expulsion from homes and displacement, imposing measures intended to prevent Palestinian births, and deprivation of access to adequate food, water, shelter, sanitation, and medical assistance.
Israel’s defense in the case will be its highest-profile public effort to date to try to justify its attacks and draconian blockade on the Gaza Strip, which have drawn widespread international outrage.