Israel appoints former Supreme Court chief as judge in ‘genocide’ case at ICJ

By Bekir Aydogan

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) - Former Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak will be part of a 15-judge panel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that will hear a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, reports said Sunday.

The 87-year-old Barak has been appointed to represent Israel during the trial, the first hearing of which will be held on Jan. 11-12, said The Times of Israel newspaper.

South Africa will reportedly present its case at The Hague on Thursday, followed by Israel on Friday.

Tel Aviv is worried that the ICJ might order a halt to combat operations in Gaza, Israeli state television KAN reported earlier.

South Africa filed a lawsuit at the ICJ on Dec. 29 claiming that Israel violated the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide with its actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, requesting an injunction.

"Israel's actions and omissions are of the nature of genocide because they were committed with the specific intention of genocide,” the country indicated, emphasizing that Tel Aviv’s actions were aimed at "destroying the Palestinians in Gaza.”

The Israeli government reacted to South Africa’s accusation but announced that it would not boycott the case.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on Gaza following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, killing at least 22,800 Palestinians and injuring more than 58,400 others.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

Many international legal experts have said that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute war crimes or genocide and countries such as Türkiye and South Africa are working to bring legal cases to that effect in international courts.

*Writing by Merve Berker