Israel has rejected the accusations brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide,.

Today was Day 2 of a public hearing at the world body in The Hague.

Yesterday, South Africa argued that Israel had committed “systematic” acts of genocide in Gaza, where more than 23,500 Palestinians have been killed amid Israel’s military campaign.

today, Israel’s legal representatives claimed South Africa’s case was “unfounded”, “absurd” and amounting to “libel”.

Israel’s arguments revolved around its “right to self-defence” following the attacks by Hamas on October 7th 2023.

It also claimed there was a lack of evidence of “genocidal intent” saying “The inevitable fatalities and human suffering of any conflict is not of itself a pattern of conduct that plausibly shows genocidal intent.”

Al Jazeera says Thomas MacManus, a senior lecturer in state crime at Queen Mary University of London, believes the ICJ is likely to see a “massive disconnect” between the picture Israel painted of its humanitarian concern for Gaza and “the reality on the ground where UN agencies say people are starving, lacking water, and seeing attacks on hospitals, schools, and universities”.

The ICJ is set to rule on nine provisional measures effectively seeking the suspension of military operations in Gaza, but a timeline for that has not been outlined.