The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will this week hear South Africa’s case against Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The emergency hearing, which will be livestreamed, will focus on South Africa’s request for “interim measures,” including a cease-fire order and a direction to stop depriving Israel of food, water, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitary facilities. is guessing. Medical supplies and support for Palestinian children and adults in the Gaza Strip.
South Africa claims that Israel is committing genocide and has failed to prevent or punish direct and open incitement to genocide by Israeli officials and others. To order interim measures, the ICJ must be satisfied that at least some of the alleged conduct “may fall within the provisions of the Convention.”
Any of the 153 states party to the Genocide Convention could have brought the case. States have obligations to all other parties to the Convention to prevent and punish genocide.
This is something that Ireland could and should be a part of. As we did in the 2022 Ukraine v. Russia case, we will be able to formally intervene and argue for an interpretation of the treaty provisions after this week’s interim hearings. Alternatively, the court could choose to file a separate case against Israel and add it to the South African case.
To bring its own case against Ireland, Ireland would need to engage in a dispute with Israel over its compliance with the Genocide Convention. A basic first step would be to tell Israel, as many countries do, that crimes of genocide are occurring or appear to be imminent in Gaza.
At the very least, Ireland should issue a statement supporting South Africa’s application to the ICJ in order to prevent serious international crimes.
Since mid-November, a large group of independent UN human rights experts has warned that “genocide is underway” in Gaza and called on all countries to mobilize the international genocide prevention system.
These 15 Special Rapporteurs and 21 members of the United Nations Working Group said: I am sounding the alarm against comments that are targeted and dehumanizing.” It is necessary to ‘completely terminate’ the population of the Gaza Strip and forcibly relocate Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jordan. ” Independent experts noted that “Israel has demonstrated that it has the military capability to carry out such criminal intentions.”
These UN experts include two of Ireland’s respected UN special rapporteurs. and Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights described the situation in Gaza as “apocalyptic.” “Gaza has become truly uninhabitable as the world watches,” said the UN’s emergency relief coordinator. According to UNICEF, “safe zones” designated by Israel are “small patches of barren land, street corners, or areas under construction that have no water, no facilities, no shelter from the cold or rain, and no sanitation facilities. building.
On January 5, UN Secretary-General António Guterres informed the Security Council that “hunger and thirst are widespread and widespread famine is looming.” Guterres said an estimated 85% of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been displaced and more than 60% of their homes have been destroyed. Israel reportedly killed well over 22,000 people, mostly children and women, and injured tens of thousands more, including in UN facilities, hospitals and other locations declared “safe.” It is being
Meanwhile, Save the Children highlights that every day more than 10 children lose one or both legs due to indiscriminate Israeli bombing.
[ In Gaza, the risk of genocide grows more acute ]
The Irish Government must respond more thoughtfully to South Africa’s initiation of ICJ proceedings. That is the least the people of Gaza, and all Palestinians and Israelis whose future depends on peace, deserve.
Last Sunday, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told RTÉ the government had no intention of supporting South Africa’s claims. “Remember what Hamas did on October 7th…wasn’t that also genocide?” the Taoiseach insisted. Referring to the Holocaust, Mr Varadkar warned: “This is a very sensitive area.”
Indeed, extreme caution is required when genocide is suspected. That is why the Government and all Oireachtas members should return early from their Christmas break to discuss the facts and law of South Africa’s case and Israel’s response.
In South Africa’s 84-page legal submission, our government’s politicians will find a definition of genocide: “A collective attack on a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” or any of the following acts committed with the intent to partially destroy: a) killing a member of the group; (b) causing serious physical or mental harm to a member of the group; (c) Deliberately subjecting a population to conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures aimed at preventing births within the population; (e) ) forcibly transferring children from one group to another.”
Our politicians will note that South Africa’s legal claims begin with a recognition of the gravity of the claims against Israel before the ICJ. These submissions unequivocally condemn and recognize the targeting of Israeli civilians and other nationalities and hostage-taking by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups as atrocious crimes under international law. But, of course, the legal submissions emphasize that genocide is never justified and that all States Parties to the Genocide Convention are obliged to act to prevent its occurrence. . In it, our politicians will read pages of statements of intent regarding Israel’s destruction of livelihoods and living conditions in Gaza. And our politicians must, hopefully, take decisions for themselves that Ireland, as a party to the Genocide Convention and as a subject of international law in its own right, has a responsibility to act in the defense of humanity. will recognize it.
Dr Maeve O’Rourke is a lecturer in human rights at the Irish Human Rights Center at the University of Galway.