Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that both Hamas’ October 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now “represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale.”
“The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population,” Martin said in a statement.
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.
Ireland last week joined Spain, Malta, and Slovenia in taking the first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by the Palestinians in the 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 neighbors.
