South Africa delivered three hours of landmark testimony against Israel at the Hague on Thursday — accusing the global power of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Both nations appeared before the International Court of Justice this week to determine whether Israel’s military actions in Gaza violate the United Nations’ 1948 genocide convention. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied the allegations, saying they’re the ones fighting genocide by targeting Hamas and that “the hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the heavens.”
An official ruling could take years, but South Africa has demanded an emergency injunction to force Israel to immediately suspend their military campaign in Gaza — which is estimated to have killed over 23,000 Palestinians.
Here are five of the most noteworthy moments from South Africa’s testimony:
1. “Nowhere is Safe”
As a part of their genocide case, South Africa argued that Israel’s military campaign extends to all 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “The level of Israel’s killing is so extensive that nowhere is safe in Gaza,” said South African attorney Adila Hassim. “As I stand before you today, 23,210 have been killed by Israeli forces over the last three months. At least 70% of whom are believed to be women and children.”
Hassim continued — arguing that there was nowhere for Palestinians to go in the densely populated region that was safe from the bloodshed.
“Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to relentless bombing wherever they go. They are killed in their homes, in places where they seek shelter, in hospitals, in schools, in mosques, in churches, and as they try to find food and water for their families,” she said. “They have been killed if they failed to evacuate, in the places to which they have fled, and even while they’ve attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”
2. South Africa Evokes Apartheid
The historical significance of South Africa’s case against Israel is lost on no one — certainly not the South Africans.
In 1994, the nation’s current governing party, the African National Congress, toppled the apartheid regime. During their testimony, South African representatives made the case that Israel is an apartheid state.
“We are also particularly mindful of Israel’s institutionalized regime of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices designed and maintained to establish domination subjecting the Palestinian people to apartheid,” said Vusi Mandonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
3. South Africa Argues This Didn’t Start On Oct. 7th
Vusi Mandonsela argued that the roots of the “genocide” were seeded before Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attack.
“South Africa has recognized the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian people through Israel’s colonization since 1948, which has systematically and forcibly dispossessed, displaced and fragmented the Palestinian people, deliberately denying them the internationally recognized inalienable right to self-determination and their internationally recognized rights of return as refugees to their towns and villages in what is now the state of Israel,” he said.
4. South Africa Calls Out United Nations and World Leaders
South Africa also took a moment to call out the United Nations and other global powers. “Decades-long impunity for widespread and systematic human rights violations has emboldened Israel in its recurrent and intensification of international crimes in Palestine,” said Vusi Mandonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
5. “Genocidal Intent”
“Genocides are never declared in advance,” said Adila Hassim, “but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible case of genocidal acts.”
Hassim laid out four reasons for South Africa’s belief that Israel’s actions consitute genocide:
1. “Targeting Palestinians living in Gaza using weaponry that causes large scale, homicidal destruction, as well as targeted sniping of civilians.”
2. “Designating safe zones for Palestinians to seek refuge and then bombing these.”
3. “Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of basic needs—food, water, health care, fuel, sanitation, and communications.”
4. “Destroying social infrastructure, homes, schools, mosques, churches, hospitals, and killing, seriously injuring, and leaving large numbers of children orphaned.”
6. This Is Being Broadcast “In Real Time”
During their testimony, representatives from South Africa emphasized the visibility of the “genocide against the Palestinian people” on social media.
“The international community continues to fail the Palestinian people, despite the overt dehumanizing genocidal rhetoric by Israeli governmental and military officials matched by the Israeli army’s actions on the ground,” said Blinne Ni Ghralaigh. “Despite the horror of the genocide against the Palestinian people, being live-streamed from Gaza to our mobile phones, computers, and television screens, the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real-time in the desperate, so far vain hope that the world might do something.”
7. Israel Responds
On Friday, Israel had their chance to respond to South Africa’s allegations. Tal Becker, the legal adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke in Israel’s defense. He argued that South Africa was deliberately ignoring Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attack and that Israel the “right to defend itself.” Israeli representatives also denied bombing hospitals.
What’s Next?
It’s likely we’ll get a ruling on the injunction from the international court within the next few weeks. The international court moves slowly, and it could take years for a final verdict.
If they rule against Israel, the Biden administration has not indicated whether they’ll continue to support Israel’s military actions. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said that there was “no basis for accusations of genocide against Israel.”