CAPE TOWN – Israel said that South Africa’s argument that it was intent on committing genocide in Gaza was not plausible.
Its legal team said that Israel’s warnings for Palestinians to evacuate, and the extent of humanitarian aid, was the opposite to South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israel is on Friday responding to South Africa’s case, saying government has presented a partial, flawed and false picture to the UN court.
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Israel said that the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, was to blame for the suffering and killings of civilians because it used public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals to launch its attacks on Israel.
Israeli advocate Galit Raguan has shown the court aerial pictures purporting to show rockets fired by Hamas from such facilities.
She also showed the court pictures of aid trucks travelling to Gaza, saying Israel had been trying to minimise civilian harm and provided increased humanitarian aid to those affected.
“But even this mere fraction, it’s enough to demonstrate how tendentious and partial the applicant’s presentation of these facts is, and certainly enough to conclude that the allegation of the intent to commit genocide is baseless.”
She says Israel would not have warned Palestinians of imminent warfare if it was intent on committing genocide.