The Peace Palace, the seat of the International Court of Justice, in The Hague. (Photo: Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto/AFP)
The United States will defend its ally Israel against accusations at the highest court of the United Nations (UN) that Israel violated the Genocide Convention during its military campaign in Gaza, the court said on Friday.
Washington submitted a so-called “declaration of intervention” to the International Court of Justice, which is currently considering the genocide case against Israel. South Africa brought the case.
“The US affirms, in the strongest possible terms, that the allegations of ‘genocide’ against Israel are false,” Washington said in its submission.
The US said South Africa’s case was the latest in a series of attempts “to make false charges of ‘genocide’ against Israel”, which it said had been going on for decades.
According to Washington, such accusations serve to “delegitimize the state of Israel and the Jewish people and to justify or encourage terror against them”.
(Argiefphoto: Maya Levin/AFP))
South Africa submitted its case to the court in December 2023, arguing that the war in Gaza violates the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. This is an accusation that Israel strongly denies.
Many have since applied to join the case, meaning they will be able to state their views in court when it is heard. However, this is a process that can take years.
Many of these countries have indicated that they want to support South Africa’s position, paving the way for a comprehensive legal battle at the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the court is based.
Representatives of South Africa earlier in the International Court of Justice. (Photo: Nick Gammon/AFP)
Judges of the court have already made an emergency decision in the case, including an order that Israel must do everything in its power to prevent genocide in Gaza and that humanitarian aid must be allowed. In a separate ruling, the court also said Israel is obligated to provide Palestinians with the “basic necessities” for survival.
The orders of the court are legally binding, but the court has no mechanism to enforce them.
Fighting in Gaza has eased since a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, although there are still sporadic outbreaks of violence.