She said Francesca Albanese The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Palestinethe trial Israel in international justice Court on charges of committing A war of extermination in Gaza It opens a new era in relations between the weak South and the powerful North, and sheds light on wars of genocide that have not yet been recognized.
Today, Friday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent… Genocide in Gaza And direct incitement against it, as it rejected – in its ruling issued today, Friday – the Israeli request to dismiss the lawsuit it filed South Africa.
In a lengthy interview with the Israeli website “972+”, Albanese said that the arguments presented by the South African prosecution in court were strong in their attempt to prove the existence of a premeditated Israeli intention to commit genocide in GazaAnd the opinion of legal experts from South AfricaIreland To defend a people still exposed to settler colonialism and the regime Apartheid What previously afflicted South Africa has greatly affected it.
Albanese – an international lawyer who took over her current job last year, becoming the first woman appointed to the position that documents violations against Palestinians – added that what shocked her was Israel’s use of terminology. International humanitarian law itself to justify its attacks on civilians.
But Israel suffered a lot, according to the UN official, to provide a convincing explanation for its war on civilians in Gaza, and it even seemed to suffer while it was under the microscope of justice and the media.
Albanese says that the trial went beyond the issue of the genocide taking place in Gaza to symbolize opposition to colonialism as a whole.
European silence
In response to a question about the reasons for the silence of European countries regarding the issue of genocide against civilians in Gaza, Albanese sees this silence as normal, given the European mentality that is still trapped in the repercussions and repercussions of the colonial period.
She added that many of the genocidal wars committed by European colonial countries are still being denied, such as those committed by Germany in Namibia a few decades before the Holocaust.
Although any decision regarding the genocide charge itself may not be made for many years, the prosecutions against Israel in the Court of Justice would give a glimmer of hope to those living in the global south whose lives are hanging on the brink of the abyss, as Albanese put it.
On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed an application to institute proceedings against Israel regarding violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide with respect to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice did not issue orders to Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza, but it obligated Israel to take further measures to protect the Palestinians.
It is worth noting that the trial of Israel on charges of genocide in the Court of Justice (one of the six United Nations bodies) is separate from another legal effort in The Hague as well, where the UN General Assembly last month asked the court to express an advisory opinion on the legality of the occupation of Palestinian territories, an opinion that is not valid. Binding, unlike the temporary decisions issued by the Commission in cases of wars of extermination.