Israel called South Africa a tool of Hamas on Thursday and decried what it called the hypocrisy underlying the case it presented to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The US steered well clear of such characterisations and avoided speaking about the details of the case at all, while repeating its assertion South Africa's case is unfounded.

South Africa presented what it said was clear evidence of genocide and genocidal intent by the Israeli state and its soldiers during three hours of oral presentations at the ICJ, also known as the World Court.

Israel's immediate public response was venomous. 

"South Africa, which is functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation, utterly distorted the reality in Gaza following the October 7 massacre and completely ignored the fact that Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdered, executed, massacred, raped and abducted Israeli citizens, simply because they were Israelis, in an attempt to carry out genocide," said Lior Haiat, the spokesperson for Israel's foreign affairs ministry, in a statement.

South Africa "seeks to allow Hamas to return to commit the war crimes, crimes against humanity and sexual crimes", added Haiat.

South Africa said in court it would be accused of ignoring the Hamas attack, but the ICJ, as a state-to-state court, was not the appropriate place to deal with what Hamas had done.

It also argued the trigger for genocide was beside the point, as nothing could excuse genocide.

In a later video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to South Africa's "chutzpah" in accusing the Jewish state of genocide, and also described it as defending Hamas terrorists.

"Today we saw a topsy-turvy world: Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting against genocide," he said.

'Unfounded'

The US stopped well short of joining Israel's condemnation of South Africa, instead highlighting the important position of the ICJ in the UN system and referring to South Africa as a partner country.

But it maintained its stance that any allegations of Israel perpetrating genocide is "unfounded".

In a regular briefing, the US state department's principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, refused to address any specifics of South Africa's case, or to speculate about its outcome.

When pressed by journalists on how Gaza differs from what the US calls China's genocide of the Uyghur people, or from Ukraine's accusations of genocide against Russia, which the US supports, Patel said that "every conflict is different".

An allegation of genocide "should only be made with the greatest of care", said Patel, in the closest thing to direct criticism of South Africa. 

He also repeated the US position that too many civilians were dying in Gaza, and more aid was needed in the territory.

Elsewhere, silence

Other world powers were notably silent on the hearing, as many have been on the issue since South Africa filed its case with the ICJ.

German officials, including its foreign minister, said they did not see genocidal intent in Israel actions, and early in the day a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described South Africa's case as "completely unjustified and wrong".

Most other European countries did not offer their assessments, or said they were watching the case.

The European Union has been sharply divided on Israel's conduct in the war.

South Africa's approach to the ICJ has been supported primarily by Arab states, with Brazil and Indonesia among the most influential non-Arab backers.

It has been opposed by only a small number of states, most vocally Guatemala. The majority of other countries have said little to nothing about the case.