Israel shows graphic images of October 7 Hamas victims to UN’s top court as it hits back at ‘profoundly distorted’ genocide case brought by South Africa

Israel has presented harrowing images of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks as it hit back at what it called a “profoundly distorted” and “malicious” genocide case against the country at the UN Supreme Court.

South Africa launched an emergency appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing that Israel is in violation of the UN Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told the court on Thursday that Israel had “crossed the line” and that even the brutality of the Hamas attack, which Pretoria condemned, could not justify violations of the treaty.

But Israel and its ally the United States have dismissed the case as baseless and promised a robust defense, while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday branded the case “completely unwarranted and wrong” and reiterated Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

Tal Becker, a top lawyer representing Israel, said Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to acts of “self-defense” against Hamas and other terror groups.

Using videos and photos, Becker painted a graphic picture of the horrors of the October 7 attacks for the judges in the Peace Palace in The Hague.

He told the court that during the attacks, Hamas militants “tortured children in front of the parents, parents in front of the children, burned people… systematically raped and mutilated.”

He emphasized that Israel’s response was in self-defense and not against the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.

“Israel is waging a defensive war against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people,” Becker said.

“Under these circumstances, there can hardly be an accusation more false and malicious than the accusation of genocide against Israel.”

He showed a series of shocking images of some of the approximately 240 people taken hostage on October 7 and asked: “Don’t these faces deserve our protection?”

The presentation included photos of Noa Argamani, a 26-year-old who was snatched from the Supernova music festival by Hamas and filmed begging for her life from the back of a bicycle, shouting, “Don’t kill me!”

Terrifying images of teenage hostages Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa and Agam Berger were also shown.

The footage of them, which shows them standing against a wall with their faces covered in blood, was taken shortly after they were kidnapped.

Three months have passed since that shooting, during which Israel has continued its brutal bombing of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of the hearings: “The State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide.

“A terrorist organization committed the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and now someone comes to defend it in the name of the Holocaust? What a sassy gal. The world has been turned upside down,” he added.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the South African case was “baseless.”

The International Court of Justice is likely to rule within a few weeks at the request of South Africa. The rulings are final and legally binding, but they have little power to enforce them.

A month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Court of Justice ordered a halt to the military operation, but to no avail.

For this emergency procedure, the court will not rule on the fundamental principles of the case – whether Israel is actually committing genocide – but on whether the livelihoods of Gazans are in danger.

South Africa can bring a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice as both countries are signatories to the Genocide Convention.

“South Africa has unilaterally condemned the attacks on civilians by Hamas and the hostage taking on October 7, 2023,” Lamola said on Thursday.

“That said, no attack, no matter how serious, can justify breaches of the convention, either legally or morally.”

“Genocides are never explained in advance,” said Adila Hassim, South Africa’s top lawyer.

“But this court has the benefit of the past thirteen weeks of evidence that irrefutably demonstrates a pattern of conduct and associated intent that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts.”

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own struggle against the white minority apartheid government, which had partnerships with Israel.

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela once said that South Africa’s freedom would be “incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Speaking before the International Court of Justice on Thursday, South African lawyer Blinne Ni Ghralaigh said international justice itself is at stake.

“Some might say that the reputation of international law, its ability and will to bind and protect all peoples equally, is at stake,” she told the court.

Pretoria wants judges to force Israel to “immediately” halt the campaign in Gaza launched after the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

At least 23,469 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry in Gaza.