Genocide case against Israel in The Hague

In the Netherlands, the genocide case against Israel is being heard in The Hague before the United Nations' International Court of Justice (Rob Schmit three things to know about the genocide case against Israel in The Hague NPR January 12, 2024)

In nearly three hours of testimony, lawyers and experts on behalf of South Africa presented evidence arguing that Israel's three-month-long military campaign in Gaza has gone beyond a war with Hamas — the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages, according to Israel. The South African legal team argued Israel's offensive now includes all 2 million Palestinians who reside in Gaza. "The level of Israel's killing is so extensive that nowhere is safe in Gaza," South African lawyer Adila Hassim said to the court. "As I stand before you today, 23,210 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during the sustained attacks over the last three months," said Hassim, "at least 70% of whom are believed to be women and children." Hassim said the Israeli military dropped 6,000 bombs a week on Gaza in the first three weeks of its campaign and dropped 2,000-pound bombs onto areas declared safe by Israel, including refugee camps. As a result, she said, more than 1,800 families in Gaza have lost multiple family members, and 85% of all Gazans have been forced to flee their homes. "This killing is nothing short of destruction of Palestinian life," Hassim said. "It is inflicted deliberately. No one is spared. Not even newborn babies. The scale of Palestinian child killings in Gaza is such that U.N. chiefs have described it as a 'graveyard for children.' "[...] In Israel's opening arguments before the court on Friday, Israeli lawyer Tal Becker said Israel is "singularly aware" of why the Genocide Convention was adopted, referring to the systematic murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, which gave birth to the convention invoked in these proceedings.

Two wrongs do not make a right.