US condemns South Africa’s ‘meritless’ genocide case against Israel
Washington, United States – AFP
The United States has criticized South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel before the UN’s top court, rejecting accusations against its ally over the war in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague will next week hold hearings on a filing by South Africa that alleges “genocidal acts against the people in Gaza” and seeks to order Israel to end the military operation.
“This submission is meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a briefing.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said separately that from a US assessment, “We have not at this point seen acts that constitute genocide.”
“Genocide is, of course, a heinous atrocity,” Miller told reporters. “Those are allegations that should not be made lightly.”
Israel has rejected the accusation by South Africa, with the foreign ministry calling it “blood libel,” a reference to ancient anti-Semitic conspiracies.
South Africa has often criticized Israel and alleged parallels to its own history of apartheid.
In The Hague application, South Africa says that Israel has been acting “with the requisite specific intent… to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
Israel has killed more than 22,300 people, mostly women and children, since October 7 when Hamas attacked Israeli military check-posts and killed 1,139 people.
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