As you read this report, that Gaza is now uninhabitable, recall the Israeli statements & conduct that South Africa's ICJ application referred to. This report also confirms the urgency cited by South Africa for issuing provisional measures against Israel's genocide
Remember that making Gaza uninhabitable was a war aim. How do we know? Israeli generals involved in the fighting said it on Israeli TV ("fallow land", "scorched earth"). Here is how South Africa quotes them in the ICJ application 2/7
In addition to genocidal intent, as South Africa shows, Israels' pattern of conduct shows a genocidal intent. The "evacuation" orders and the massive destruction makes large parts of Gaza unliveable. 3/7
The UN now says that food insecurity in Gaza is "the highest levels.. ever recorded”. Thus, South Africa was right to list this as part of genocidal actions. 4/7
In reaction to the ICJ application, Israel now says that it will emphasise it allowed humanitarian aid. But South Africa already anticipated this, emphasising both that it pales compared to what is needed, and continuing the military actions inhibits it. UN agrees. 5/7
Some Israeli legal scholars defend Israel on the grounds that not all of the alleged instances of actions & statements, that South Africa cites, are necessarily genocidal. But South Africa already replied to this: not all of them need to be for the Court to issue an order. 6/7
This Guardian report, then, confirms the urgency that South Arica cited in its ICJ application for Provisional Measures. Let us hope the ICJ rises to the challenge. 7/7
Recall also that Israeli TV commentators, like South Africa, have understood Israel's actions in Gaza to mean that it seeks to make it uninhabitable. Here is a reminder 8/8
"Testimonies collected over the past year from released detainees and those still in custody paint a broader and horrifying picture of systematic abuse and torture against detainees from Gaza." @pchrgaza /1
In Haaretz Hebrew, 22 May, former Israeli PM Olmert says he used to think that the mass killing of civilians in Gaza was a result of a "tragic war" & he denied the charges of genocide & war crimes, but now he thinks: it is an intentional annihilation. archive.ph/3vvOi
Olmert: "What is happening in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks has nothing to do with a legitimate war goal. Our fighters are being sent by the state leadership — and the army leadership that obeys it... in an illegitimate military campaign."
Olmert: Israel has adopted a deliberate policy of starvation archive.ph/3vvOi
Those who are surprised by Yair Golan's comments ("killing babies as a hobby"), or are inclined to dismiss Feiglin as a marginal figure, have not been being attention. Search the word "children" in South Africa's submission to UNSC in Feb 2025: 🧵/1
2. Recall that Netanyahu, Gallant framed it from the start as a war against the "children of darkness" and that endless statements by politicians, soldiers, journalists, public figures repeatedly proclaimed: there are no innocents in Gaza, where the majority is children.
3. The genocide did not start after Israel broke the cease fire, as "revisionists" would have it: Centrist Knesset members were clear from the start:
"International law moves slowly, and signatories to the convention, including the US and UK, are required not only to punish but to prevent genocide. The court of public opinion is reaching its own conclusion."
So why did you wait till now?
"The ICJ ruled in January last year that there was a “plausible risk” of genocide. Amnesty International, a UN special committee and leading scholars, including within Israel, have concluded that genocide is taking place."
And these were not good enough for you to say it then?
Israel said it will "burn", "erase", "flatten" Gaza since October 2023, but western media and western officials downplayed and ignored genocidal intent. They pretended it is a "war". Here is a NYT article on 15 November 2023.
South Africa's submission to UNSC in Feb. 2025 did not receive the attention it deserves. This is one of the most publicly-available comprehensive documentation of Israel's intent to commit to genocide as evidenced by its pattern of conduct and statements. 🧵 1/
2) South Africa highlights 10 patterns of conduct that are prevalent from the publicly available evidence and that indicate the existence of a genocidal intent:
3) A. The pattern of Israel targeting the vulnerable, including children, women, the wounded and disabled, and those who have repeatedly been displaced and are seeking shelter