Middle East - UN court: Israel must face genocide accusation
Just over three months after the start of the Gaza war against the Islamist Hamas, Israel has to answer for the military operation before an international court for the first time. South Africa had sued Israel before the International Court of Justice based in The Hague, accusing it of genocide. The hearings have now been scheduled for January 11 and 12, as the highest UN court ruled on Wednesday evening in The Hague.
South Africa had invoked the Genocide Convention in its complaint on December 29. Both states have signed this convention. In South Africa's view, the UN judges should order an end to the violence against Palestinians in summary proceedings in order to protect their rights.
Israel comes under increasing criticism
The Gaza war was triggered by the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on 7 October. They murdered more than 1200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. The aim is to completely destroy Hamas. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.
According to South Africa, Israel's attacks are "genocidal in nature", as they are aimed at destroying the Palestinians in the area. Israel firmly rejected the accusations.
Explosive statements from the government
However, statements made by Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionist Party could cause Israel further problems in the proceedings in The Hague: Both had speculated about a possible expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to other countries. The USA, the EU and countries such as Germany and France had sharply rejected the statements.
Israel's Culture Minister Miki Sohar from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party also criticized his cabinet colleagues and denied that Israel was involved in such talks. "It is clear that no one in Israel would be sad if they (the Palestinians) left voluntarily. But that is not realistic and the international community would not accept it either," he told the news site ynet. Such issues should not be discussed on the open stage.
The Court of Justice is the highest court of the United Nations and is supposed to dispense justice in conflicts between states. Judgments are binding. However, the UN judges themselves have no way of enforcing judgments. To do so, they would have to appeal to the UN Security Council.
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Source: www.stern.de
