South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – which accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 13 other leaders of inciting deadly violence against Palestinians – is aimed at ending the country's institutionalised impunity, say senior South African government officials.

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told News24 on Wednesday the Israeli government's claims that South Africa's application was driven by antisemitism was a form of blackmail aimed at ensuring the continuation of Israel's impunity.

"[South Africa's case against Israel] is about the actions of the State of Israel.

"As you know, in South Africa we live side by side with Jews. They run companies [and] thriving businesses. It is not about [antisemitism].

"It is about us invoking the Genocide Convention to deal with the actions of the State of Israel, which we believe is within the definition of the convention," Lamola said. 

Supported by the US, Israel has vehemently denied there being any truth to South Africa's claims that it is committing genocide in Gaza, with an Israeli spokesperson condemning the country's ICJ case as "blood libel" – a reference to antisemitic and false bloodletting accusations levelled against European Jews in the Middle Ages, as a mechanism to violently persecute them. 

Department of International Relations and Cooperation director-general Zane Dangor admitted on Wednesday that the South African government had considered possible economic fallout, among other risk factors, in taking Israel to the ICJ but was determined in its bid to end institutionalised impunity by Israel. 

"There is a lot of support based on the fact that South Africa, for the first time, has taken a stance to break what we can call institutionalised impunity of Israel," Dangor said. 

Israel maintains its three-month-long military operation in Gaza is driven by the desire to destroy Hamas, the military and political organisation that launched a surprise attack on it on 7 October 2023 and killed 1 200 people, most of whom were civilians.

Israel insists it has used a variety of innovative measures to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians in the densely populated area, including alerting residents of its intention to bomb their areas.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed more than 23 000 people.

South Africa's ICJ application records that at least 7 729 children have been killed by Israeli bombings.

More than 55 000 Palestinians have been injured, including at least 8 663 children, with at least 1 000 being amputated in the fighting.

One child is said to be killed in Gaza every 15 minutes.

In addition to highlighting the dire lack of water, food, shelter and medical care that has left the majority of surviving children in Gaza admitting to self-harm or thoughts of suicide, South Africa's application also records the dehumanising language used by Israeli leaders to describe Palestinians living in the war-ravaged area.

These are some examples:

On 28 October, as Israeli forces prepared their land invasion of Gaza, Netanyahu invoked the biblical story of the total destruction of Amalek by the Israelites and told troops: "You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember." He repeated this reference in a 3 November letter sent to Israeli soldiers. The relevant biblical passage reads: "Now, do attack Amalek and prescribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill all alike, men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses."

On 12 October, Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated in a press conference with foreign media, in relation to Palestine: "It's an entire nation out there that is responsible. It's not true, this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true … and we will fight until we break their backbone." 

On 15 October, echoing the words of Netanyahu, Herzog  told foreign media: "We will uproot evil so that there will be good for the entire region and the world."

On 9 October, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, in an Israel Defence Forces "situation update", advised that Israel was "imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly".

On 10 November, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir stated: "To be clear, when we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support and those who hand out candy – they're all terrorists and they should also be destroyed."

On 1 November, Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu posted on Facebook: "The north of the Gaza Strip, more beautiful than ever. Everything is blown up and flattened, simply a pleasure for the eyes…" He later argued against humanitarian aid saying "[w]e wouldn't hand the Nazis humanitarian aid" and "there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza". He also posited a nuclear attack on the Gaza Strip.

All these comments, and the multiple others detailed in South Africa's application, are cited as evidence of Israel's alleged genocidal intent.

Lamola said under the provisions of the 1948 Genocide Convention, South Africa was duty-bound to stop what it contended were "acts and omissions by Israel" that "are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group, that being part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip". 

According to South Africa's detailed 84-page ICJ application: "The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.

"The acts are all attributable to Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in manifest violation of the Genocide Convention, and which has also violated and is continuing to violate its other fundamental obligations under the Genocide Convention, including by failing to prevent or punish the direct and public incitement to genocide by senior Israeli officials and others." 

South Africa's application has been compiled by leading human rights lawyers and international law experts, and includes references to dozens of UN reports and investigations on the dire situation in Gaza.

However, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby has slammed the case as "meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever".

For Lamola, that response failed to deal with the substance of what South Africa is alleging.

"They [the US] cannot respond with three lines to an 84-page application we have made to the court. They must respond to the facts," he said. 

American human rights lawyer Francis Boyle has pointed out that South Africa's genocide application – and its urgent request that the ICJ grant certain provisional measures that would suspend Israel's military operation in Gaza – has potentially far-reaching political and legal implications for the administration of US President Joe Biden. 

Boyle, who successfully acted for Bosnia at the ICJ and obtained two orders against Yugoslavia, which demanded that it cease committing genocide against the Bosnian population, believes South Africa will be successful in its case.

He said: "Based upon my knowledge, judgement and experience, I have read the application request for provisional measures of protection by the government of South Africa [and] I predict that South Africa will win an order for provisional protection against Israel to cease and desist committing all acts of genocide against the Palestinians."

Should the ICJ find there was basis to suspect that Israel's conduct in Gaza may have violated the provisions of the Genocide Convention, Boyle said, the US would find itself complicit in a suspected genocide.

SA Institute of International Affairs deputy chairperson Moeletsi Mbeki said South Africa's litigation against Israel had brought the US' seemingly unwavering support of Israel firmly into focus.

"The interesting question I ask myself is: Why does the US seem to feel obligated to protect Israel, irrespective of what it does?" Mbeki told News24, adding that it was apparent South Africa's ICJ application – and its implications – were having an impact on the conduct of US diplomats.

"I notice a bit of backtracking by the Secretary of State [Antony Blinken] in the past couple of days, where he reprimanded Israeli ministers for saying the population of Gaza must be relocated somewhere.

"Now, before the date for the hearing of the case had been announced, Blinken hasn't said that.

"Now that they know the case is going ahead, Blinken is now reprimanding the Israeli ministers who are saying the population should be removed from Gaza.

"So, already I presume South Africa's action is having an effect of forcing the Americans to put themselves on record that they don't support everything that Israel is doing."

Mbeki said he believed the US was "very angry" with South Africa over its ICJ application and may find "hidden" ways to punish the country.

He believed the case to be justified.

"I am one of the biggest critics of the ANC, but this is the one occasion where I agree with them. It was the right thing to do."

Dangor said while South Africa had known it would face backlash over its application against Israel, few countries sought to actively dissuade it from pursuing its case at the ICJ. 

Paraguay and Hungary this week lambasted South Africa's decision but he said they were not surprised by the stance.