Palestine Asks for Support in the Genocide Case Against Israel

January 11, 2024 Hour: 7:14 am

On Thursday, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) called on countries to support the ongoing process at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to deliberate on South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel.

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The hearing is “a historic event in the joint Palestinian and South African struggle against the injustice and genocide our people face,” the PNA stated, emphasizing that the international community has failed to take practical measures to hold Israel accountable.

This illegal occupying power “did not comply with international consensus decisions” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it added.

The Palestinian National Authority also denounced “the complicity of some countries and international organizations in the commission of the crime of genocide” by Israel, “through the veto” of international resolutions calling for an end to the war or providing “various types of weapons and political support” to Israel, “instead of assuming their responsibilities and preventing and punishing the commission of the crime of genocide.”

Pro-#Palestine protesters are gathering outside the International Court of Justice in #TheHague where the initial #ICJ hearing of #SouthAfrica‘s petition concerning “Israel’s” ongoing aggression on #Gaza will take place.#GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/fxIdVpfqio

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish)
January 11, 2024

In the first hearing at the ICJ on Thursday, South Africa accused Israel of maintaining a “pattern of genocidal conduct” in Gaza, with “mass killings,” “forced displacements,” and “serious physical or mental harm” to Palestinian civilians.”

“The Palestinians are at immediate risk of dying from hunger, dehydration, and diseases due to the blockade, the destruction of Palestinian cities, insufficient access to aid allowed to the Palestinian population, and the inability to distribute that limited aid while bombs fall,” said South African lawyer Adila Hassim.

“Israel has killed an incomparable and unprecedented number of civilians with full knowledge of how many civilian lives each bomb would claim,” she pointed out and demanded that the ICJ impose urgent interim measures on Israel to protect the population of Gaza.

The case before the ICJ focuses on Israel’s violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which is in force in 152 countries.

Today’s and tomorrow’s hearings will not delve into the merits of the case and will only focus on the need for interim measures requested by South Africa against Israel to “protect the rights of the Palestinian people from further, serious, and irreparable harm.”