South Africa’s legal team says ‘intent is clear’ in Israel’s Gaza genocide

Johannesburg, South Africa – While South African ineligible researchers were successful an undisclosed determination past week, racing against clip to finalise hundreds of pages of grounds proving Israel’s intent to perpetrate genocide successful Gaza, successful Israel, leaders gathering adjacent the Gaza borderline were calling for the besieged and bombarded Strip to beryllium emptied of Palestinians.

During the “preparing to settee Gaza” conference, held astatine a restricted subject portion successful Be’eri past Monday, Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was recorded calling for the “migration” of Gaza’s existent inhabitants, and the anticipation of aboriginal Israeli colony enlargement determination – thing considered amerciable nether planetary law.

“[We will] archer them, ‘we are giving you the chance, permission from present to different countries’,” Ben-Gvir said, portion Israeli forces continued their much than yearlong bombardment of Gaza. “The Land of Israel is ours.”

South African diplomats asseverate that statements similar these connection undeniable grounds of Israel’s genocidal intent – thing they indispensable beryllium earlier the International Court of Justice (ICJ) successful an ongoing case.

Monday (October 28) is the deadline for South Africa to taxable a elaborate memorial against Israel to the ICJ, lawyers and diplomats told Al Jazeera. Its ineligible submission aims to definitively found that Israel’s subject actions successful Gaza magnitude to genocide.

Despite caller grounds emerging daily, elder South African officials instructed the ineligible squad to instrumentality to what they had already collected to conscionable the approaching deadline.

The ineligible squad is nevertheless assured that the hundreds of pages of grounds are much than capable to prolong their case.

“The occupation we person is that we person excessively overmuch evidence,” Ambassador Vusi Madonsela, South Africa’s typical to The Hague, explained to Al Jazeera.

Zane Dangor, the director-general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said: “The ineligible squad volition ever accidental we request much time, there’s much facts coming. But we person to accidental you person to halt now. You [have] got to absorption connected what you have.”

The 500-page South African ineligible submission aims to exposure a signifier of wide casualties successful Gaza, wherever astir 43,000 Palestinians person been killed since October 2023, which South African officials reason exceeds immoderate proportional subject effect to Hamas’s attacks connected October 7 past year.

Director-General of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela astatine the ICJ [File: Yves Herman/Reuters]

South Africa has maintained since its interim exertion successful December past twelvemonth that Israel’s intent goes beyond subject objectives, aiming alternatively astatine the wholesale depopulation of Gaza done utmost unit and forced displacement.

In its initial application, South Africa submitted 84 pages pleading with the tribunal to find Israel blameworthy of suspected genocide and bid it to, among different things, halt its penetration successful Gaza.

During oral arguments successful The Hague, the South African ineligible squad relied connected statements made by Israeli politicians astatine the time, video clips of the demolition successful Gaza and maps that showed however Palestinian onshore had been encroached on.

‘Unprovable’?

The ICJ acceptable steadfast its Monday deadline for South Africa to prove, connected paper, that Israel is blameworthy of genocide.

However, this is simply a feat described by planetary instrumentality experts arsenic “nearly unprovable”.

Professor of planetary instrumentality astatine the University of Cape Town, Cathleen Powell, said South Africa’s situation is to beryllium genocidal intent connected behalf of the authorities of Israel and to amusement a nexus betwixt comments made by officials and the programmatic quality of the demolition of Gaza.

“If they tin find genocidal statements from authorities officials and amusement that that straight led to a peculiar programme that led to demolition connected the ground, past that’s astir apt a precise beardown case, but it is simply a precise hard nexus to prove.”

She said determination was nary uncertainty warfare crimes were being committed successful Gaza, but invoking the genocide normal meant that South Africa had to beryllium that the authorities was responsible.

“It is hard to property the intent of officials to the state. You person to find thing antithetic connected behalf of the authorities [of Israel] to amusement genocidal intent,” Powell explained.

Legal insiders said if South Africa fails to beryllium dolus specialis – the circumstantial intent to destruct a group, either successful full oregon successful portion – its lawsuit would autumn flat.

A Palestinian antheral walks past the rubble aft Israeli strikes successful Jabalia, successful the bluish Gaza Strip [File: Stringer/Reuters]

South Africa’s Dangor said his country’s lawsuit was stone solid.

“It’s a textbook lawsuit of genocide,” Dangor said, adding that the “intent is clear”.

“Genocidal acts without intent tin beryllium crimes against humanity. But here, the intent is conscionable beforehand and centre.

“You are seeing statements from leaders, but besides mean Israelis saying ‘kill each Gazans, adjacent the babies’,” helium said.

‘Working level out’

Working wrong choky deadlines, South Africa assembled an elite squad of ineligible minds, including 3 apical elder counsels from South Africa, an planetary instrumentality professor, a British barrister, and galore inferior counsel and researchers.

Close to 100 radical person been moving connected antithetic parts of the lawsuit for the past 9 months, insiders detailed.

While apical authorities officials provided oversight, teams worked separately successful drafting the document, which has been marked “Top Secret” until it is filed earlier the court.

“We person been moving level retired to enactment unneurotic the submission,” Ambassador Madonsela noted.

Tasked with task management, a respected Johannesburg instrumentality steadfast handled the intricate logistical elements, section by chapter, including translations and citation verification.

Junior counsel concentrated connected drafting a wide nexus betwixt Israeli officials’ rhetoric and the subject actions successful Gaza, portion elder lawyers crafted the case’s ineligible arguments to amusement a systematic campaign.

They had to condense thousands of pages of grounds of “unthinkable brutality” into thematic ineligible arguments, Dangor explained.

ICJ judges during a proceeding connected South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel successful May 2024 [File: Yves Herman/Reuters]

Over 9 months, ineligible researchers were instructed not lone to database examples of Israel’s unspeakable killings and demolition successful Gaza but to absorption the grounds connected what would intelligibly picture what South Africa argues is “Israel’s eventual objective” to obliterate Gaza and unit retired the Palestinians surviving there.

In the hundreds of pages owed to beryllium submitted, South Africa listed a litany of examples wherever Israeli politicians and elder authorities officials spoke astir “wiping retired Gaza” and “forcing Palestinians out”.

South Africa interprets these statements arsenic intelligibly articulating genocidal intent.

For instance, remarks by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant successful November 2023, successful which helium referenced plans for Gaza portion alluding to imaginable actions against Lebanon, are positioned arsenic grounds of a broader Israeli agenda.

“I americium saying present to the citizens of Lebanon, I already spot the citizens successful Gaza walking with achromatic flags on the seashore … If Hezbollah makes mistakes of this kind, the ones who volition wage the terms are, archetypal of all, the citizens of Lebanon. What we are doing successful Gaza, we cognize however to bash successful Beirut,” Gallant said astatine the time.

While the minister’s comments were cited arsenic examples of genocidal intent, the ineligible squad opted not to reason that Israel’s present penetration of Lebanon was further impervious that “it was Israel’s volition each along”.

“That volition travel successful oral hearings,” Dangor said erstwhile asked astir it.

Israeli leaders, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, right, person made statements that South Africa argues shows genocidal intent [File: Abir Sultan/Reuters]

High-stakes case

Dangor explained that the lawsuit has go a landmark successful planetary instrumentality for respective reasons.

First, it is unprecedented that genocide allegations are being presented to an planetary tribunal portion the atrocities proceed to unfold – alternatively than retrospectively, arsenic seen successful cases similar the Srebrenica oregon Rwanda genocides.

Secondly, the lawsuit benefits from the real-time documentation of alleged genocidal acts, which captures intent and execution with contiguous clarity.

Dangor said this is markedly antithetic from humanities cases wherever grounds emerged overmuch aboriginal and successful fragments.

Additionally, helium emphasised that South Africa’s lawsuit uniquely implicates a Western-backed state.

This origin raises the stakes considerably and challenges longstanding assumptions successful planetary ineligible responses to genocide.

According to Dangor, genocidal acts without intent whitethorn autumn nether crimes against humanity, but successful this case, the intent is unambiguously prominent.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed assurance successful the submission, stating earlier Parliament successful August that helium believed the lawsuit was coagulated and was hopeful astir its outcome. “We are assured that we person a beardown lawsuit to beryllium that genocide is happening successful Palestine,” helium said astatine the time.

Once submitted, Israel has until July 2025 to taxable its counter-arguments. After that, oral hearings astatine the ICJ are anticipated successful 2026 – which means the ineligible process whitethorn widen for years.

If accepted, the lawsuit would people a historical first, arsenic nary authorities has successfully prosecuted different for genocide nether the Genocide Convention of 1948.

Pro-Palestinian protesters stitchery adjacent the ICJ, calling for Israel’s warfare connected Gaza to extremity [File: Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]

The imaginable verdict could resonate acold beyond Israel and Palestine, mounting a caller modular successful however planetary instrumentality addresses state-sanctioned violence, experts say.

“What we person been saying is that genocide is simply a transgression of crimes,” said Chrispin Phiri, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola.

Head of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Melani O’Brien, said South Africa’s submission was the commencement of an “important and lengthy” process.

“It’s portion of the process of the prevention of genocide. It serves arsenic a deterrent,” she said of the case, which is 1 of the 4 presently earlier the ICJ invoking the genocide convention.

O’Brien said portion a blameworthy verdict whitethorn not halt Israel, it would unit different countries to reconsider their narration with it.

Dangor acknowledged that a blameworthy verdict mightiness not alteration Israel’s actions but could unit an arms embargo.

“With this level of depravity, wilful sidesplitting and immunity, wherever Israel says, ‘We volition perpetrate genocide and get distant with it, however situation you telephone it a genocide’, we are duty-bound to halt it,” helium said.

“We don’t person the quality to halt it with subject means oregon economical sanctions. We are hoping that the actions we instrumentality tin pb to others having to instrumentality action. This is due to the fact that the ineligible consequences that look from a uncovering of genocide mean that third-party states tin nary longer find excuses to supply arms [to Israel].”

Speaking astatine the BRICS acme successful Russia past week, Ramaphosa told satellite leaders that alongside its ineligible enactment astatine the ICJ, South Africa remained “unwavering” successful its enactment of the constitution of a Palestinian state.

“We bash judge the satellite cannot basal by and ticker the slaughtering of guiltless radical continuing,” the president said.