Urgent call to prayer for Israel on trial in The Hague

Israel has been on trial in The Hague for decades. The Hague is the home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as other important institutions.

Ever since the 1970s, international law is being weaponized by the enemies of the Jewish people to undermine and eventually destroy the Jewish State. South Africa was one of the first countries to call for Israel to be officially classified as an apartheid state and has referred Israel to the International Criminal Court to be investigated for war crimes for its actions in Gaza over the last two months.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on 7^th October 2023, the South African government has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” and a “holocaust”, and at COP28, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa noted in his address that “South Africa is appalled by the cruel tragedy that is underway in Gaza. The war against the innocent people of Palestine is a war crime that must be ended now”. In November 2023, the South African parliament voted to end diplomatic ties with Israel. Israel withdrew its Ambassador to South Africa.

The latest development in this saga is that South Africa has filed a case on 29^th December 2023 with the International Court of Justice against Israel.

South Africa claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. It requests the court to urgently order Israel to immediately cease its military campaign in Gaza. In other words, South Africa wants to defend Hamas against Israel, by forcing Israel to stop its legitimate war of self-defence against Hamas.

The case is brought under the Genocide Convention, to which South Africa and Israel are parties. According to Article II of the Genocide Convention, “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Hearings are being held at the Peace Palace in The Hague on 11^th and 12^th January 2023.

We call upon Christians globally to pray in the coming days for Israel, which is facing a huge battle in the international courts. It is essential that Christians stand in the gap for the Jewish people. 

Pray that the enemies of Israel will be defeated, that Israel’s counsel Prof. Malcolm Shaw will be given great strength, courage and wisdom, that the judges of the International Court of Justice will see the truth, and that Israel will be able to continue its fight to defeat those who are seeking to annihilate the Jewish state. 

Above all, pray that a miracle will happen, and that the Iranian revolutionary regime, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and their allies will turn from their hatred of the Jewish people, and will give up their campaign of genocidal jihad.

South Africa sues Israel for genocide in The Hague – a classic case of “illegitimate lawfare”
Andrew Tucker explains that Israel has been on trial in the international courts in The Hague for decades. The latest development in this saga is that South Africa has filed a case on 29^th December 2023 with the International Court of Justice against Israel.
> Read more..

The International Court of Justice has been weaponised against the Jewish state
Barrister Natasha Hausdorff argues that this case is a modern blood libel against the only Jewish State, that will only serve to fuel antisemitism.
> Read more..

Israel is not committing genocide — but Hamas is 
Human Rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky argues that “If the court wishes to maintain its credibility, respect for the rule of law and sacrosanct obligation in holding real perpetrators of genocide accountable, it will immediately dismiss these baseless and mendacious proceedings against Israel and direct its attention solely to the crimes of Hamas.”
> Read more..

The selective use of facts and the Gaza Genocide Debate
Professors Yuval Shany and Amichai Cohen argue that South Africa is selectively using facts to support a contentious case. They conclude that while this may have short-term success, “making problematic legal claims in order to meet jurisdictional conditions does not serve the interest of promoting international law’s effectiveness and credibility in the long run, especially when those claims would nowhere near suffice if the Court ever addresses the merits. We fear that if terms such as genocide were to be used loosely in order to achieve immediate political or tactical legal goals, overall respect to international law as a credible system of norms will diminish.”
> Read more..

Is Israel Winning the War on the Tunnels in Gaza?
One of the main challenges of the Israel-Hamas war is that Hamas is fighting from an extensive network of tunnels built deep underground in Gaza. Prof. Daphné Richemond-Barak explains the complexity of tunnel warfare, and its international law implications. She argues that “it has become clear that Israel cannot possibly detect or map the entirety of Hamas’s tunnel network. For Israel to persuasively declare victory, in my view, it must destroy at least two-thirds of Hamas’s known underground infrastructure… Completing this job could take a few more months. In a tunnel war requiring stamina, time, and perseverance, ending the war prematurely could mean defeat. To avoid such an outcome, Israel’s ability to determine its own timetable is key.”
> Read more..

Is Israel committing genocide?
South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Their accusation: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. On Thursday and Friday the public hearings will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). We often hear this accusation of genocide in the media and during anti-Israel demonstrations. What is going on? And why is this trial so important? Andrew Tucker, a lawyer specializing in Israel and international law, explains it.