THE HAGUE – The Netherlands will intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Dutch foreign ministry said on Thursday, becoming the 17th country to announce it will participate, the Dutch News reported.
South Africa launched proceedings in 2023, accusing Israel of breaching its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its conduct of the war in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied the accusation and called the case baseless.
Under the convention, any state party may intervene in an ICJ case to offer its interpretation of the treaty. Iceland also said on Thursday it would intervene.
In a public filing, the Netherlands said it intends to address several legal points, including the treatment of children and the provision of humanitarian aid.
The Dutch asked judges to “take account of starvation or the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid for the purpose of establishing specific intent, in particular when this occurs on the basis of a concerted plan of a consistent pattern of conduct,” according to the filing.
A finding of genocide requires proof of a state’s “specific intent” to destroy a protected group, a high legal threshold.
At hearings in 2024, South Africa pointed to what it described as “genocidal rhetoric” by Israeli political and military leaders as evidence of intent. Israel has rejected that characterization.
In separate proceedings at the International Criminal Court, judges have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over allegations including the use of starvation as a method of warfare by restricting aid, accusations framed as war crimes rather than genocide. Israel has also rejected those allegations.
Israel began its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. More than 75,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
