Weaponizing the term “genocide” against Israel "averts" the aims of the UN Genocide Convention, Israel contended on Friday, claiming during its oral arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague that it is only trying to protect its own people.
"The key component of genocide, the intention to destroy people, in whole or in part, is totally lacking," argued the Israeli delegation to the court.
"What Israel seeks by operating in Gaza is not to destroy people, but to protect ... its people who are under attack on multiple fronts, and to do so in accordance with the law, even as it faces a heartless enemy."
'Manipulative'
It also asserted that the 1948 Genocide Convention "was not designed to address the brutal effects of intense hostilities on civilians," and added: "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 weaponise 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.
The delegation accused South Africa – the country that filed the genocide case against Israel – of having close ties with Palestinian group Hamas not only before but also after Hamas’ Oct. 7 cross-border attack, which killed over 1,000 Israelis.
'Only Israeli assault'
"It is a matter of public record that South Africa enjoys close relations with Hamas, despite its formal recognition as a terrorist organization by numerous states across the world," it said.
"These relations have continued unabated even after the Oct. 7 atrocities. South Africa has long hosted and celebrated its ties with Hamas figures, including a senior Hamas delegation that incredibly visited the country for 'solidarity gathering’ just weeks after the massacre."
It also accused South African, when it presented its case on Wednesday, of neglecting the facts, saying: "It is almost as if there is no intensive armed conflict taking place between two parties at all. No grave threat to Israel and its citizens. Only an Israeli assault on Gaza."
The delegation also disputed the number of people killed in Gaza presented to the court in South Africa's oral arguments, voicing disbelief at the figure of over 23,000 casualties, calling Palestinian sources "hardly reliable."
'Genuine measures'
Israel’s defense in the case is 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.
Rejecting accusations that Israel is causing forced displacement, the Israeli delegation claimed that it only aims to ensure a "terror-free" Gaza.
"Israel aims to ensure that Gaza can never again be used as a launchpad for terrorism, as the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) reaffirms Israel seeks neither to permanently occupy Gaza or to displace its civilian population."
"Israel is in a war of defense against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people," it said, claiming that the country is taking "genuine measures on the ground to mitigate civilian harm."
Additionally, it accused Hamas of using human suffering as a strategy, saying: "If Hamas abandons the strategy, releases the hostages, (and) lays down its arms, the hostilities and suffering would end."
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas whic h Tel Aviv says killed around 1,200 people.
Over 23,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 59,410 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
South Africa's demand
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 dr agged on for more than three months.
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 med ical assistance.
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