Israel to be tried in 'genocide' case: Date has been set

Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, stated in a post on the social media platform X that the first hearing of the case will take place in The Hague on January 11-12 and that lawyers are continuing their preparations accordingly.

The Israeli administration had reacted to South Africa, which accuses it of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but announced that it would not boycott the case.

The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also described the Republic of South Africa's filing of the case against Israel as a "concrete step" toward accountability and expressed its support.

According to the ICJ's case procedure, both the plaintiff and defendant countries can add one judge each to the panel of 15 judges. Furthermore, the defendant, Israel, can be represented by 4 lawyers at the hearing and may submit letters written by representatives of supporting countries to the court.

The ICJ may issue an order for Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.

CASE FILED AGAINST ISRAEL

On December 29, the Republic of South Africa filed a case at the ICJ on the grounds that Israel's actions in Gaza since October 7 violated the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and requested that the court issue provisional measures against Israel.

The application stated that "Israel's acts and omissions are genocidal in character because they are committed with the requisite specific intent," and emphasized that the actions were intended to "destroy Palestinians in Gaza."

Under Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, if a state violates the articles of the convention, any state party to the convention can file a case against the violating state at the ICJ.

In cases requiring urgency, the ICJ can rule for provisional measures, ordering that the violations in question be halted until the legal process is concluded.

News Source: AA