Genocide case is distorted, Israel tells South Africa

Israel has criticised the genocide case against it at the UN’s top court as “profoundly distorted” and one that presents a false narrative of the realities of the war in Gaza.

South Africa has asked judges at the International Court of Justice to impose measures to halt the conflict immediately, on the basis that Israel has breached the UN Genocide Convention.

The South African case stated that Israel was leading a campaign intended to wipe out the Palestinian population “as a group”, citing the death toll of more than 20,000, the majority of them civilian. Lawyers representing South Africa told the court in the Hague that the October 7 attacks by Hamas did not justify the military campaign there.

Dr Tal Becker, the legal adviser