ICJ hearing: Israel’s response
Israel laid out its defence today against charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Tal Becker, the legal adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented Israel’s opening statements. Becker argued that South Africa had “ignored” the events of October 7.
Becker said Israel had the right to defend itself, and accused South Africa of maintaining close ties with Hamas.
Galit Raguan, acting director of the international justice division at Israel’s Justice Ministry, blamed Hamas for the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza and maintained that Israel had not bombed hospitals.
Gilad Noam, Israel’s deputy attorney general for international affairs, argued against the use of “provisional measures” since Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organisation and they had committed “a large-scale terrorist attack”.
Provisional measures are temporary rulings that require warring states to stop what they’re doing to prevent possible “irreparable harm” from occurring.
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, a legal think tank, responded to Israel’s defence on X.
An official ruling from the ICJ is expected in the coming weeks.
Some outlets were criticised for only broadcasting Israel’s defence on their news channels, while other refused to show any coverage of the case at all.
When it comes to print and online media, let’s take a look at how the second day of the trial was covered.
Israel accuses South Africa of ‘profound distortion’ at ICJ genocide hearing
Accusing Israel of genocide is an inversion of the truth designed to leave it defenceless
Genocide case is distorted, Israel tells South Africa
South African leaders had ‘cosy’ meetings with Hamas after deadly October 7 terrorist attack before accusing Israel of genocide
- the meetings took place according to “Israeli sources” – it has not been reported by any other outlets or news wires, aside form Israeli media
- The Daily Mail also posted an article a few days earlier, as “Israel’s UN ambassador uses Mail’s coverage of the Gaza hostages as he begs the general assembly not to forget about the people STILL being held by Hamas”.
Israel denies genocide accusations in Gaza
South Africa’s genocide case against Israel: Both sides play heavy on emotion in ICJ hearing
Top journalist calls out BBC and Sky News over ICJ case coverage
‘Nonsense’ for South Africa to accuse Israel of genocide, says foreign secretary
