Genocide case against Israel reaches The Hague

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa has said that more than 50 countries have expressed support for its case at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Others, including the United States, have strongly rejected South Africa's allegation that Israel is violating the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

It came as Israel kept up bombardments in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, vowing to press ahead with its offensive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not be deterred by the case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where it is fighting accusations that the campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.

Netanyahu, whose government is facing growing international pressure over civilian casualties in Gaza, vowed that "no one will stop us" in the fight against Hamas.

In the southern city of Rafah, an Israeli airstrike on a house sheltering two displaced families killed 10 people, the Gaza health ministry said.

The world's reaction to the landmark case that was heard on Thursday and Friday at the ICJ shows a predictable global split when it comes to the inextricable, The Associated Press reported.

The majority of countries backing South Africa's case are from the Arab world and Africa. In Europe, Turkiye has stated its support.

No Western country has declared support for South Africa's allegations against Israel. The US, a close Israel ally, has rejected them as unfounded, the UK has called them unjustified, and Germany said it "explicitly rejects" them.

Israel fiercely rejects the allegations of genocide and says it is defending its people. It says the offensive is aimed at eradicating Hamas militants, the group that runs the Gaza Strip, which launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, media reported.

Israel's military response in Gaza has killed at least 23,968 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry on Sunday, with more than two-thirds of the dead being women and children. Much of northern Gaza has become an uninhabitable moonscape with entire neighborhoods erased by Israeli airstrikes and tank fire.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation was one of the first blocs to publicly back the case when South Africa filed it late last month. It said there was "mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli defense forces" and accused Israel of "indiscriminate targeting "of Gaza's civilian population.

Namibia and Pakistan agreed with the case at a UN General Assembly session last week, and Malaysia also expressed support.

Agencies via Xinhua