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Israel vs South Africa: Key Takeaways from ICJ Hearings – Day 2

April 29, 2025 By Leave a Comment


IMAGE: Public hearings for an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations towards the United Nations and its agencies and bodies in the occupied Palestinian territories continue for the second day in The Hague (The Netherlands)

In response to a request for an advisory opinion regarding Israel’s obligations related to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations, and third states, in the context of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Court of Justice has invited oral statements from representatives of South Africa, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and Colombia.

On Monday, the International Court of Justice began a week-long series of hearings focused on Israel’s humanitarian responsibilities towards the Palestinian population, occurring over 50 days after the implementation of a total blockade on aid access to the conflict-affected Gaza Strip. These hearings come as a direct response to a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in December, prompted by Norway, which requests the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion detailing Israel’s responsibilities to facilitate and guarantee unobstructed access to essential humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

VIDEO: ICJ Hearing – Top UN court hears case on Israeli obligations to ensure Palestinian aid (Source: Associated Press)


Today’s hearings (Day 2) have yielded additional perspectives and analyses regarding the methods employed by the state of Israel in utilising hunger and starvation as tools of control, thereby enhancing the extent of suffering and mortality inflicted through its food systems, culminating in what can undoubtedly be characterised as an act of genocide…


IMAGE: South Africa’s representative at the ICJ, Jaymion Hendricks. (Source: Associated Press)

Palestine Chronicle reports on ICJ hearings…

‘Starvation as Weapon’ – ICJ Hearings on Israel’s Aid Obligations in Gaza Continue

Heindricks emphasised that “Despite the horrific attempts by Israeli officials to characterise them otherwise, Palestinians are human beings, they are flesh and blood.”

South Africa told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday that international law “prohibits Israel from the use of starvation as a method of warfare, including under siege or blockade.”

“Israel may not collectively punish the protected Palestinian population, which it holds under unlawful occupation,”  South Africa’s representative Jaymion Hendricks said on day two of public hearings in The Hague on Israel’s humanitarian obligations in the Gaza Strip.

Hendricks cited the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food as having stated in a July 17, 2024, report that “Starvation reflects a state’s fundamental abandonment of its human rights obligations and further that the state of Israel has deployed the full range of techniques of hunger and starvation, perfecting the degree of control, suffering and death that it can cause through food systems, leading to this moment of genocide.”

States’ Legal Obligation

Heindricks emphasised that “Despite the horrific attempts by Israeli officials to characterise them otherwise, Palestinians are human beings, they are flesh and blood.”

Israel’s humanitarian blockade on Gaza since March 2, including its ban on UNRWA, “renders the Palestinian population significantly less resilient to Israel’s acquisition of territory by force and of its genocide.”

“In so doing, Israel is breaching the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people … enshrined in the UN charter,” Hendricks continued, adding that Israel “is impeding the United Nations and third states from exercising their obligations.”

The South African representative pointed out that “States are under a legal obligation to protect the inviolability of all UN premises and property wherever located and by whom ever held.”

Israel “must therefore cooperate in good faith with the United Nations and render it every assistance,” Hendricks continued.

He stressed that Israel “must comply with its obligations as an occupying power to ensure food and medical suppliers and facilitate the unhindered provision of humanitarian goods, essential services and development assistance by the UN, third states and other international organisations.”

‘Reverse’ UNRWA Ban

Hendricks also stressed that Israel must “fully seize hostilities” and “immediately reverse its decision to expel UNRWA and other UN bodies from carrying out their mandated activities.”

On the UN’s role, the South African representative said it “must demand and negotiate for the removal of barriers imposed by Israel” and “must continue to render humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people” despite Israeli restrictions.

He further said third states “have an obligation not to recognise Israel’s internationally wrongful acts, including its banning of UNRWA … and to collaborate to bring such acts to an end,” urging them to refrain from providing arms to Israel.

‘Collapse by Design’

Earlier, Zane Dangor, the head of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told the court: “The humanitarian aid system is facing total collapse. This collapse is by design.”

Nokukhanya Jele, another South African representative, stressed that “Israel may not impose any measures specifically prohibited by international humanitarian law, such as mass forced displacements, the destruction of property, transferring in of colonial settlers, targeting schools, and even targeting the school curriculum to erase the history of the Palestinian people.”

‘Breach of Legal Obligations’ – Algeria

Algerian representative Samia Bourouba urged the ICJ to “declare that Israel is in breach of its legal obligations as a member of the UN with regard to the organisation and as an occupying power,” the Anadolu news agency reported. Bourouba decried the lack of a response against Israeli actions.

“In view of the violations committed by Israel, we are witnessing a lack of effective reaction from the international community,” she said.

Maya Sahli Fadel, also representing Algeria, stressed that humanitarian aid should never be used as “a political bargaining chip or a weapon of war.”

“Saving lives must never be a controversial issue,” she said. “The principles of international law that have been developed over the centuries that aim at protecting civilians should not be swept aside, and impunity should not persist.”

‘Considered Above Law’ – Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia told the ICJ that Israel has disregarded the court’s legally binding provisional orders and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The court’s ruling marked a clear path for Israel to follow and finally bringing itself into international legality,” said Mohammed Saud Alnasser, the Saudi representative at the hearings, referring to a March 2024 ruling ordering Israel to allow the “unhindered provision” of aid to Gaza.

“Sadly, but predictably, Israel chose to ignore the court’s ruling, showing that it considered itself above the law.”

Alnasser said Israel “ignored those orders, as it has similar calls made by other UN bodies, international organisations and concerned states,” and instead “has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and turned the Gaza Strip into an unlivable pile of rubble, while killing thousands of innocent and vulnerable people.”

Citing Israel’s responsibilities towards UN premises in Gaza, he said: “Israel’s failure to guarantee the inviolability of UN premises can never be justified on grounds of military expediency or national security.”

Alnasser added that Saudi Arabia “takes this opportunity to reaffirm its unconditional commitment to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its Capital. This unwavering position is non-negotiable and is not subject to compromises.”

Risk of Malnutrition – Belgium

Professor Vaios Koutroulis, speaking for Belgium, said that Gaza is once again faced with the risk of famine and malnutrition, warning that water access and sanitation remain “very limited and very unequal.”

Koutroulis stressed that Israel’s humanitarian obligations “must be interpreted and applied in good faith,” and that “it is prohibited to attack paramedics and humanitarian workers.”

Israel’s “military and security interests must be exercised in compliance with international law and not in spite of international law,” he underlined.

‘Condemning the Population’ – Colombia

Colombia’s representative, Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, for his part, said Israel is breaching its duty by “impeding the provision of basic services and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population.”

He said Israel must refrain from “attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless the goods and assets essential to civilian survival” and guarantee safe access for medical personnel and ambulances.

Jassir also criticised Israel’s actions against UNRWA, saying that by hampering the work of international organisations, Israel is “condemning the population of Gaza to a worsening humanitarian crisis.”

‘Human Suffering’ – Egypt

Egypt told the ICJ on Monday that Israel remains bound by its obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law as long as its occupation of Palestinian territories continues.

“There is no doubt that the United Nations role, together with its agencies and other humanitarian organisations, in alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian people, a situation entirely of Israel’s own creation,” the country’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hatem Kamaleldin Abdelkader said.

Describing the situation in Gaza, Abdelkader accused Israel of imposing a “brutal siege” on civilians, calling it “the most recent chapter in Israel’s systematic weaponisation of humanitarian assistance,” amid what he called a “vicious assault” on the Gaza Strip.

“There is no doubt that these practices are part of a widespread, systematic and comprehensive state policy to depopulate the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) and effect its de facto annexation,” he said.

Render Gaza ‘Uninhabitable’

Abdelkader further charged that Israel has forcibly transferred Palestinians to areas no more secure than those they had fled and is “intentionally creating conditions intended to make Gaza uninhabitable.”

Joining Egypt’s oral submissions, Jasmine Moussa, legal advisor to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, described Israel’s military campaign as aimed at achieving “a far more insidious end” — the removal of Palestinians from their land and their extermination “under the fog of war.”

“This is undeniably Israel’s war aim embedded in its systematic policies to deprive the Palestinians of food, to decimate their hospitals, to deny access to and discredit international independent humanitarian actors, to seize and fragment massive areas of land under the pretext of so-called security zones, and to expand colonial settlement activity in the West Bank, eroding the basis for the two-state solution,” Moussa said.

She stressed, “There can be no possible, moral or legal justification for the prolonged siege and starvation of more than 2 million civilians (in Gaza).”

‘Displacement and Elimination’ – Malaysia

Malaysia on Monday told the Court that Israel’s intention is the ultimate “displacement and elimination” of Palestinians.

“What are the obligations of an occupying power and of a member of the United Nations that continues without regard for international law or human decency to obstruct, undermine and dismantle the very systems built to preserve human life and dignity in the occupied Palestinian territory?” Malaysian envoy Azalina Othman Said asked the court during public hearings on Israel’s obligations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“In last few weeks we have witnessed not only a renewed war against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also statements by senior Israeli officials that leave no doubt (that) Israel’s intention is to bring about the ultimate denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination to their eventual displacement and elimination,” she said.

Said pointed out how Israeli Defense Minister Katz recently issued threats against Gaza’s civilian population, stressing that “this demonstrates Israel’s intention in no uncertain terms.”

“Threatening the civilian population of Gaza with destruction unless they remove Hamas and return the hostages, (this is) an objective that even Israel, with all its military might, has not even come close to achieving over a year-and-a-half of merciless killing and maiming,” she added.

Week-Long Hearings

The ICJ is holding hearings this week to assess Israel’s legal obligations for the provision of humanitarian aid and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, following a request from the UN General Assembly.

Representatives from 40 countries and four international organisations are expected to present oral submissions during the proceedings, including Türkiye, Malaysia, South Africa, China, Russia, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Key organisations, including the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League, will also contribute.

Israel, which is among the countries that submitted written statements, will not make an oral submission during the hearings. Israel also faces a genocide case at the ICJ for its war on the Gaza Strip, which, since October 2023, has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

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