Israel, S.Africa to face off at UN top court in Gaza genocide case

South Africa and Israel face each other at the top U.N. court on Thursday where judges will hear a South African case accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and requesting an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, also known as the World Court, will have two days of hearings this week in a case brought in late December accusing Israel of failing to uphold its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Israel has called the whole case absurd and accused Pretoria of playing “advocate of the devil” for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militant group it is waging war against in Gaza.
South Africa and Israel are both parties to the Genocide Convention, which obliges them to not commit genocide and also to prevent and punish it. The treaty defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
South Africa has asked the court to order a series of emergency measures including a suspension of military action in Gaza while the court hears the case on the merits, which can take years.