Ireland to Take Part in South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel

In a significant move underscoring Dublin’s unease with Israeli actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, Ireland announced on Wednesday its plans to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

In his announcement, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin emphasized the importance of the World Court’s role in determining if genocide was underway. However, he made it unequivocally clear that Hamas’ recent attack on Oct. 7 and the current situation in Gaza constitute a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law on a large scale.

Martin emphasized in a statement the severity of actions such as taking hostages, deliberately withholding humanitarian aid from civilians, targeting civilian populations and infrastructure, indiscriminately using explosive weapons in populated areas, using civilian objects for military purposes, and collectively punishing entire populations.

“The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough.”

In January the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians, after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.

Israel and its Western allies described the allegation as baseless. A final ruling in South Africa’s ICJ case in The Hague could take years.

Martin did not say what form the intervention would take or outline any argument or proposal Ireland plans to put forward.

Martin’s department said such third party interventions do not take a specific side in the dispute, but that the intervention would be an opportunity for Ireland to put forward its interpretation of one or more of the provisions of the Genocide Convention at issue in the case.

The Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 being taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to health authorities in Gaza.

Long a champion of Palestinian rights, Ireland last week joined Spain, Malta and Slovenia in taking the first steps toward recognising statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Israel told the countries that their plan constituted a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbours.