Gaza war: how South Africa's genocide case against Israel is shaping up

• With the death toll approaching 24,000 in the Palestinian territory, South Africa’s lawyers laid out the grounds on which they are accusing Israel of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention, while Israel’s legal team have presented their counter- arguments.
• Israel in turn has denied this, arguing that it has been exercising its fundamental right to self-defence under international law.
• Read more:
  South Africa has made its genocide case against Israel in court.
• Here's what both sides said and what happens next

  The UN’s genocide convention was adopted by the General Assembly on December 9 1948.

Genocide in Gaza?

• They backed this assertion by quoting some of the more incendiary statements by the far-right members of the Israeli government.
• On November 2023, Israel’s heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, claimed that there was no such thing as non-combatants in Gaza and that dropping a nuclear weapon there was an “option”.
• But South Africa’s application reported other controversial statements from those senior leaders as well.

Israel’s defence

• They maintained that the Israel Defense Forces campaign in Gaza was justified by the inalienable right of self-defence.
• Because of this, it was within the stringent parameters of international humanitarian law.
• Hamad said: “We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice and three times.

What the case means

• Palestinians have traditionally sought legitimacy and recognition by trying to embed their national aspirations and rights in the lexicon of international law.
• But that reversal alone might retain enough symbolic clout to infer a decisive blow to Israel’s international status.

Carlo Aldrovandi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.