By Anadolu staff
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli lawyers at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) broke every possible record for ''feigned innocence'' amid a deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip, an Israeli journalist said Wednesday.
''Had one hooked Israel's attorneys up to a polygraph during their speeches, the power grid in The Hague would have collapsed,'' Michael Brizon wrote in Israeli daily Haaretz.
''It was very lucky for Israel that South Africa chose to accuse it specifically of genocide, a crime that's almost impossible to prove in court,'' he added.
Israel is currently facing a genocide case brought to the court by South Africa due to its actions in Gaza - which are repeatedly described as a breach to international laws by the UN. Tel Aviv, however, denies accusations of genocide by claiming that it is only trying to protect its own people.
Israel has launched a relentless military assault on Gaza after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv says killed around 1,200 people.
During Israel’s military campaign, at least 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 others injured. The majority of the victims were children and women.
According to the UN, 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
“Once again, luck intervened on Israel's side. South Africa chose, though it's not clear why, to focus almost entirely on what is happening in Gaza instead of talking about what is happening in all the occupied territories – Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Brizon said.
“After all, we're talking about one single nation whose members are being trampled under the boots of the same occupier.”
*Writing by Mohammad Sio