Israeli President Isaac Herzog has described a lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide towards Palestinians in its Gaza offensive. as atrocious and preposterous.
The Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) is because of start hearings on the case introduced by South Africa on Thursday.
It is focus might be on the civilians among the many greater than 23,000 folks that Gaza well being authorities say have been killed within the greater than three-month-old battle between Israel and Hamas.
Chatting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Herzog accused South Africa of hypocrisy for bringing the case,.
He additionally thanked Washington for its assist and mentioned Israel makes utmost efforts to keep away from civilian casualties in Gaza.
“Truly our enemies, Hamas, of their constitution, name for the destruction of our nation, the State of Israel – the one nation-state of the Jewish individuals,” Herzog mentioned.
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“We might be there on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice and can current proudly our case of utilizing self-defence underneath our most inherent proper underneath worldwide humanitarian regulation.”
The offensive was triggered by a cross-border Hamas rampage by Islamist fighters who, Israel says, killed 1,200 individuals and kidnapped 240.
Since then, Israeli forces have laid a lot of the enclave to waste, and practically all its 2.3 million individuals have been pushed from their properties at the very least as soon as, inflicting a humanitarian disaster.
Israel blames Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007, for hurt to civilians for working amongst them, which the fighters deny. Israel insists it’s going to press forward till Islamist Hamas is dismantled and 132 remaining hostages are recovered.
Israel should win, Herzog mentioned, “as a result of it is a battle that impacts worldwide values and the values of the free world”.
As of Tuesday, the Israeli navy mentioned 182 troopers had been killed in Gaza preventing.
