Matthew Miller
The US chastised South Africa on Wednesday for filing a genocide case against Israel before the UN’s top court, rejecting claims against its ally over the Gaza war.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague will conduct hearings next week on a South African complaint alleging genocidal acts against the people of Gaza and requesting that Israel cease its military operation.
“We don’t think it’s a productive step”, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller of South Africa’s submission.
“We have not at this point seen acts that constitute genocide”, Miller noted.
“Genocide is, of course, a heinous atrocity”, Miller continued.
“Those are allegations that should not be made lightly”, he added.
Israel has rejected fiercely the claim, calling it blood libel, a reference to historic anti-Semitic plots.
South Africa has frequently criticized Israel, claiming parallels to its apartheid history.
South Africa claims in its Hague appeal that Israel has been operating with the requisite specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.
As per the official Israeli figures, Palestinian Hamas militants infiltrated Israel on October 7 and killed 1,140 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, in response to the bloodiest attack in its history, Israel started a relentless offensive that has left broad swathes of Gaza to rubble and killed over 22,300 people.
US-South African relations have already been strained due to Pretoria’s refusal to join Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, the US ambassador openly accused South Africa of transferring a ship of weaponry to Russia, charges that were later retracted by the State Department.
Also read: South Africa Genocide Case Against Israel To Be Heard By World Court Next Week
