Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to counter South Africa’s accusations of committing genocide in the war with Hamas in Gaza, an Israeli government spokesman announced today.

“The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague to dismantle South Africa’s senseless blood libel. We want to assure the leaders of South Africa: history will judge you and judge you without mercy“, spokesman Eilon Levy said in an online update.

South Africa appealed to the ICJ claiming a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of the Crime of Genocide with Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is the UN body that resolves disputes between states. Its decisions are not subject to appeal, but it also has no means to enforce their implementation.

According to the statement issued by the International Court of Justice, South Africa accuses Israel of engaging in “acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza».

In its complaint, South Africa states that “Israel’s acts and omissions assume a genocidal character, since they are accompanied by the specific intent (…) to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza, as part of the wider national, racial and ethnic group of Palestinians”. says the announcement of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

“By its conduct – through its organs and agents and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence – towards the Palestinians of Gaza, Israel is neglecting its obligations with the Convention against Genocide,” according to the South African government.

Israel’s government immediately rejected South Africa’s appeal to the ICC, calling it a baseless blood libel with no legal merit and asserting that it was abiding by international law in its war with Hamas in Gaza.