South African delegation during the first session of Israel's war crimes trial (Anatolia)

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) praised South Africa's argument in which Israel was accused before the International Court of Justice of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while Israel accused South Africa of being the "legal arm" of Hamas.

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice adjourned its first session after hearing South Africa's pleading, in which it demanded an immediate end to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, providing a set of indicators about these operations, and how they amount to genocide.

Ammar Hijazi, Palestinian Assistant Foreign Minister, said that the ICJ discussions once again confronted the world with the reality of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, including the current genocide, as well as all the violations since 75 years.

Hamas leader Ezzat al-Rishq said, "The movement highly appreciates the pleadings made by the South African legal team at the International Court of Justice, and the arguments, evidence and documented proofs that prove to the whole world the involvement of the Israeli occupation in committing genocide and ethnic cleansing of our people in the Gaza Strip."

"The State of South Africa proves once again the authenticity of its principled position in support of our Palestinian people and the justice of their cause, and its rejection of the brutal crimes of the occupation against our people and their legitimate national rights," he added.

Speaking before the International Court of Justice, former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told Al Jazeera that "Israel is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza."

Francesca Albanese, the UN rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, said: "Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza is the minimum decision the International Court of Justice must take to prevent further civilian deaths in Gaza."

Israel has the right to protect itself, but must bear international law in mind when doing so.

South Africa's pleading

South Africa's legal team has said Israel has been intensifying its crimes against Palestinians since 1948 and is subjecting Palestinians to an apartheid regime, adding that the international community has failed to prevent genocide in Gaza.

He pointed out that Israel's actions in the Gaza war indicated an intention to commit genocide, and that hundreds of families in Gaza were completely killed, leaving no one alive.

The South African legal team added that Israel deliberately creates conditions that deprive Palestinians of shelter and clean water, and has deliberately imposed conditions in Gaza to prevent subsistence, and the physical destruction of Palestinians.

"Palestinians are being bombarded non-stop wherever they go, and killed everywhere they go," South Africa's justice minister said, stressing that Israel had launched a major attack on Gaza and violated the Genocide Convention.

Israeli anger

On the other hand, the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that what happened in The Hague represents the greatest hypocrisy in history, and that it is based on baseless fabrications and lies, as it described. She added that South Africa plays the role of a "judicial arm" in the service of Hamas, as she put it.

The State Department said the allegations that Israel was committing genocide were baseless. It added in a statement that those who violently attack Israel are in fact those who continue to explicitly call for it to be wiped off the map and the mass killing of Jews.

The State Department statement reiterated what it described as Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas' "terrorist" acts.

Israel had agreed to appear in court to refute what it called "absurd accusations that lack any factual or legal basis".

However, the Israeli press confirmed that there is a serious fear in the Israeli security and prosecutorial institutions that the International Court of Justice will charge Israel with genocide.

Case Path

The hearings will address South Africa's demand for emergency measures and require Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza, while the court will hear the merits of the case, a process that could take years.

In the 84-page lawsuit, South Africa argues that Israel has failed to provide basic food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter and other humanitarian aid to Gazans.

A panel of 17 judges, including two from Israel and South Africa, will hear three-hour arguments for each party, and a ruling on interim measures is expected later this month.

In a sign of the weight of the term genocide, Israel has sent a former Supreme Court judge who survived the Holocaust signed before the genocide convention was signed, and South Africa will appoint a judge who spent 10 years in his youth on Robben Island, where he met former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, is separately investigating charges of atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank and the October 7 attack on Israel, but has not named any suspects.

Arab Support

For its part, the League of Arab States affirmed its full support for the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of genocide and violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, expressing its aspiration for a just verdict that would stop the war of aggression on the Gaza Strip and put an end to the Palestinian bloodshed.

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said in a press statement that "the General Secretariat of the League supports the South African endeavor in all possible ways by preparing to provide what serves the cause and strengthens the Palestinian position," adding that it is "an important step, not only towards a ceasefire, but also accountability for the Israeli occupation."

In the context, the Libyan Presidential Council announced on Wednesday its support for the lawsuit against Israel, and affirmed – in a statement – its support by all means for the step taken by South Africa in the face of the unprecedented genocide against the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli occupation.

Tunisia said it would not join any lawsuit against Israel "because of the implicit recognition of this entity", but confirmed that it would file oral arguments.

Pakistan also announced its support for South Africa's request to the International Court of Justice, stressing that it is an important step towards holding Israel accountable for the atrocities it commits against the Palestinians.

In conjunction with the first session, hundreds of Arabs and foreigners organized a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the International Court of Justice in the Dutch city of The Hague, in solidarity with Gaza.

Participants in the demonstration expressed their support for South Africa's move and demanded that Israel immediately cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Participants waved the flags of Palestine and South Africa and chanted slogans condemning the Israeli aggression against Gaza.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies