Jerusalem Accuses South Africa of ‘Blood Libel’ Over International Court Filing

Jerusalem, 31 December, 2023 (TPS) -- Jerusalem slammed South Africa on Friday for taking a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague over its prosecution of the war in Gaza.

In a move praised by the Hamas terror group, Pretoria accused Jerusalem of violating its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention by intending “to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the ICJ filing in a statement, saying that South Africa was participating in a “blood libel” against the Jewish state.

“South Africa’s claim has no factual and judicial basis and is a despicable and cheap exploitation of the court,” the statement read.

The ministry further claimed that “South Africa is collaborating with a terror group that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel,” in reference to Hamas.

Additionally, the ministry accused Hamas of attempting “to carry out genocide” on Oct. 7, when some 3,000 heavily armed terrorists crossed the Gaza border into Israel to murder 1,200 people, wound thousands more, and take 240 hostages back to the Strip.

Hamas also engaged in acts of rape, sexual abuse, torture and mutilation during the bloody hours-long rampage across the northwestern Negev.

Also, the ministry emphasized that the IDF does not target civilians in Gaza and is only interested in targets terrorists. “Israel has clarified that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy.”

“We call on the International Court of Justice and the international community to reject the baseless claims of South Africa out of hand,” the statement concluded.

For its part, Hamas praised South Africa for initiating the legal proceedings against Israel, with the terror group saying in a statement that “we highly appreciate South Africa’s move to submit a request to the International Court of Justice to initiate proceedings to investigate the Zionist entity’s criminal act of committing genocide against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas called on other countries to submit similar requests “against this Nazi entity.”

The Nazi genocide against the Jews in Europe was one of the main drivers for the adoption of the Genocide Convention by the United Nations in 1948.

Last month, Israel recalled its ambassador to South Africa for consultations after the country’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) accused the Jewish state of “genocide” in Gaza.

ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri had said, “We cannot sit back and watch the genocidal actions of the Israeli regime.”
The move came two weeks after Pretoria recalled its diplomats from Israel.

South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor spoke by phone with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Oct. 17, less than two weeks after the terror group’s assault on southern Israel.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 129. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.