Israel rejects “blood libel” spread by South Africa and application to International Court of Justice

As South Africa files a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has rejected the “blood libel” spread by South Africa and its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).South Africa applied to the court on Friday, where it described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”

“Israel rejects with disgust the blood libel spread by South Africa and its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). South Africa’s claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said in a post on X.He further highlighted that South Africa is cooperating with a terrorist organisation that is calling for the destruction of Israel.

However, Haiat emphasised that the Hamas terror group is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza by using them as human shields.”The Hamas terrorist organisation, which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and tried to commit genocide on October 7, is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by using them as human shields and stealing humanitarian aid from them,” he said.

Israel is committed to international law, acts in accordance with it, and directs its military efforts only against the Hamas terrorist organisation and the other terrorist organisations cooperating with Hamas.Moreover, stressing that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy, Haiat said, “Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy and is making every effort to limit harm to the non-involved and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.”

He further called on the ICJ to reject South Africa’s baseless claims.”We call on the International Court of Justice and the international community to completely reject South Africa’s baseless claims,” he stated.Moreover, according to South Africa’s statement submitted to the court, “The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”

The ICJ, also called the World Court, is a UN civil court that adjudicates disputes between countries. It is distinct from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals for war crimes.Hence, being members of the UN, both South Africa and Israel are bound by the court, reported Al Jazeera.