Israel is 'convinced it's right'

SA's case in Hague court crucial to expose Palestinians' extreme suffering.

A leading South African judge said on Thursday that "hardly anything" will deter Israel's Gaza offensive, but Pretoria's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) remains vital to highlight the dire situation.

South Africa's case, brought in December 2023, alleges that Israel's Gaza offensive, launched in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel, breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. Israel has strongly denied the accusation.

Nambitha Dambuza, a judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal, lamented that Israel faces few constraints in prosecuting its war.

"The cause of the state concerned, Israel, is so deep and they're convinced they're in the right and they know there's hardly anything that's going to happen if they continue with their conduct," Dambuza said.

"Accountability can be a choice among states and I'm not saying all states are the same. Some are more sensitive to pressure and they might adjust their conduct accordingly, but others will not," added Dambuza, who was in New York for the UN's High Level Political Forum.