THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Israel has urged the top U.N. court to reject the latest request by South Africa for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza as part of a case accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention with its military offensive against Hamas.
The food agency’s statement came less than two weeks after South Africa urged the world court “to do what is within its power to save Palestinians in Gaza from genocidal starvation.”
It acknowledged in its written response to South Africa’s request that there are “also tragic and agonizing civilian casualties in this war.
At hearings in January, lawyers for Israel argued that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.
“South Africa’s request of 6 March 2024 shows nothing more than a continuation of elements already considered by the Court when issuing the Order of 26 January 2024,” the Israeli response said.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Monday that impending famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made” as “starvation is used as a weapon of war.”
The original article contains 487 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!