Ankara, 11 Jan. 2024 (Anadolu)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday said it will begin deliberations as it concluded the two-day public hearing of South Africa’s case that accused Israel of committing a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.

“The public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) concluded today,” the ICJ said in a statement.

“The Court will now begin its deliberation. The Court’s decision will be delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course,” the top UN court added.

South Africa, which filed the case in December, accused Israeli authorities of perpetrating genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It requested provisional measures from the court to protect the Palestinian people, including by calling upon Israel to immediately halt military attacks.

South Africa laid out a list of alleged genocidal acts by Israel on the first day of the hearing on Thursday, while Israel defended itself on Friday.

Israel has killed more than 23,700 Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by Hamas. The military campaign has also caused mass displacement, destruction and hunger.

Following the end of public hearings in The Hague, Cuneyt Yuksel, Chairman, Turkish Parliament’s Justice Committee and AK Party lawmaker from Istanbul, who led the Turkish delegation in The Hague to monitor the trial, presented a photobook to John Dugard. The book contains photos as evidence taken by the official news agency of Turkey Anadolu journalists in Palestine.

Yuksel stressed the importance of the publication, and shared that photographs on the 24th page were presented as evidence during the two-day hearing that concluded Friday.

Dugard said the photos in the book were “horrific,” adding: “It will be very useful during our case.” South Africa’s legal team’s head said that these pictures will be very useful.

Among Turkish delegation also included Ismail Emrah Karayel, President, EU-Türkiye Joint Parliamentary Committee, and Cahit Ozkan, a member of the Constitution Committee and deputy from the city of Denizli.

Anadolu’s images included pictures of the moments of white phosphorus artillery shells exploding in mid-air during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Oct. 10 and 11, as well as images of the Turkish news agency’s photojournalist, Mustafa Haruf, being beaten by Israeli forces in the occupied East Jerusalem.

Killings, destruction in Gaza

Israel has been criticized by the international community for indiscriminate attacks in Gaza Strip and its military actions amounting to collective punishment.

It has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing more than 23,700 Palestinians and injuring many more. About 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the initial Hamas attack. Among the dead there are at least 10,000 children and 7,000 women, according to Palestinian officials.

South Africa’s case, filed in December, argues that Israel violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. It filed an 84-page document with the court detailing acts it says amount to genocide in Gaza.

The court in The Hague heard South Africa’s arguments on Thursday, while Israel defended its actions on Friday, and the two-day hearing ended.

The Hague-based ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the UN, established in 1945. It is composed of 15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council.

The Court has a role to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized UN organs and agencies of the system.

AlJazeera Network reported the day’s development :

• Israel laid out its defence against charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
• Tal Becker, the legal adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented Israel’s opening statements arguing that South Africa had “ignored” the events of October 7 and that Israel had the right to defend itself.
• Becker also stated that the court should apply provisional measures against South Africa, accusing it of maintaining close ties with Hamas.
• Malcolm Shaw, a British professor of international law, then took the floor. He argued against South Africa’s claim the two countries were in a “dispute” instead labelling it a “unispute”.
• Galit Raguan, acting director of the international justice division at Israel’s Justice Ministry, then spoke after a short coffee break. She blamed Hamas for the high civilian toll in Gaza and asserted that Israel had not bombed hospitals.
• Christopher Staker, an international lawyer previously on the criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was Israel’s fourth representative. He claimed Israel had facilitated humanitarian aid.
• Gilad Noam, Israel’s deputy attorney general for international affairs, presented Israel’s final arguments. He argued against the use of provisional measures, listing several reasons, including that Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and other countries and had committed “a large-scale terrorist attack”.
• We should expect a ruling from the court in favour of, or against, South Africa’s urgent request for provisional measures in a few weeks.

Pakistan has extended its support to South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Usman Jadadoon, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, welcomed the South African initiative to bring Israel’s “transgressions” under the Genocide Convention to ICJ.

“Israel’s war in Gaza is a brutal, veritable genocide,” said Jadadoon. He said this “genocidal war” must be stopped.

“Pakistan also looks forward to the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” he added.

Türkiye, Bolivia and Malaysia have already signaled support for the case.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s second-largest multi-national bloc, has also welcomed the lawsuit filed by South Africa.

It called on the ICJ “to respond expeditiously and take urgent measures to stop this mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli defense forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”