Gaza war’s fourth front

As the war in Gaza extends the third month and expands to two other fronts- with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen- the battle is also being fought on the fourth front – International Court of Justice (ICJ). On December 29, 2023, South Africa brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague over allegations of genocide against the Palestinian people. South Africa’s 84-page application are intended to prove that Israel is conducting the anti-Hamas war in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Since October, in the ongoing strike against Hamas in the Gaza strip, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 23,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, according to Gaza’s ministry of health. The war has also internally displaced 1.9 million; and damaged or destroyed nearly 70 percent of the homes and 50 percent of the buildings in the region. In its three-hour long presentation to ICJ judges, the South African team, articulated the harrowing plight of Palestinians in Gaza who are trapped under siege, bombarded by continuous Israeli air strikes and attacked by a deadly Israeli military ground invasion. South Africa has based its charges against Israel on five issues such as – Mass killings of Palestinians; Bodily and mental harm; Forced displacement and food blockade; Destruction of the healthcare system and Preventing Palestinian births. Hearings on South Africa’s request for provisional measures were held on January 11 and 12. Israel’s legal team responded to South Africa’s arguments by saying the Israeli operations in Gaza were a natural response to the events of October 7, when Palestine Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns and villages, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. As part of its argument, the Israeli team showed video footage and audio from the attacks. It’s significant that South Africa chose to bring charges before the ICJ, especially when the ICJ is already investigating alleged war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas stemming from the October 7 attacks. The reason why South Africa has chosen to intervene on behalf of the Palestinians is because the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has deep ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), stretching back to its former leader and South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, Nelson Mandela. The ANC leader Nelson Mandela was a vocal supporter of the PLO leader Yasser Arafat as he believed both nations were “fighting for the right of self-determination.” The other underlying reason that may have tipped the scales is South Africa’s desire to challenge the US-dominated international order that it sees as unfair to African and non-Western interests, and does so using an internationally respected body. The legal process will be a long drawn out affair as final judgement could take years but South Africa and countries against Israel expect an interim sentence in the next few weeks. These countries are hoping that if interim ICJ ruling is to halt killings, that would serve to make several countries withdraw from backing Israel. However no interim ruling will end the war in Gaza and the case only highlights a diversion from fact-that Hamas which provoked and committed human rights abuses and violations is sought to be forgotten.