Above photo: Tanaiste Micheal Martin. Getty Images.
The intervention seeks to encourage the court to interpret the genocide convention in a way that protects Gaza civilians from Israel’s horrific military assault.
Ireland will intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Minister Micheal Martin announced on 29 March.
Martin said that while it was for the ICJ to determine whether Israel is committing genocide, he explained that Israel’s actions in Gaza represent “the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale.”
In November, South Africa brought the case to the ICJ, accusing Israel of committing genocide. The proceedings are expected to last for years.
In the meantime, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately refrain from any acts that breach the Genocide Convention and to ensure its forces commit no genocidal acts. Aid groups have since accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians, while Israel’s mass killing of civilians has continued.
Martin’s office issued a statement saying the intervention would not take a specific side in the case but that Ireland wishes to submit its own interpretation of one or more of the provisions of the Genocide Convention relevant to the accusations being leveled against Israel.
Martin has directed his office to begin work on a Declaration of Intervention under Article 63 of the ICJ Statute.
The Irish Times reported that the planned declaration will not allege that genocide is being committed but seeks to encourage the court to interpret the genocide convention in a way that protects civilians.
Martin condemned events in Gaza, including “The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population.”
Ireland has long been a principled supporter of Palestinian rights. Last week, Ireland joined Spain, Malta, and Slovenia in taking the first steps toward recognizing a state declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.