Israel rejects accusations of genocide before the court in The Hague: "Grossly distorted story"

Israel today dismissed as a "grossly distorted story" accusations made by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the UN's highest court, that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led campaign of genocide aimed at wiping out Palestinian population.

South Africa, which filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December, asked the judges on Thursday to introduce emergency measures to order Israel to immediately stop the offensive, writes Reuters.

It said Israel's air and ground offensive - which ravaged much of the narrow coastal enclave and killed more than 23.000 people according to Gaza health authorities - was aimed at causing the "depopulation" of Gaza. On Friday, Israel dismissed the accusations of genocide as baseless.

Israel's military actions in Gaza are acts of self-defense against Hamas and "other terrorist organizations," the Israeli foreign ministry's legal adviser said at the opening of the second day of hearings at the World Court.

Counselor Tal Becker said the interpretation of events in South Africa was "grossly distorted", adding that "if there were acts of genocide, they were committed against Israel".

"The terrible suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is primarily the result of Hamas' strategy," Becker said, adding that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Hamas denies Israeli allegations that its militants are hiding among civilians.

"Israel is in a defensive war against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people, to ensure that they fail," Becker said, adding: "The key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is completely missing."

Flag-carrying Palestinian supporters marched through The Hague and planned to watch the proceedings on a giant screen outside the Peace Palace. As Becker spoke, they chanted, "Liars, liars."

Israeli supporters held a separate gathering of family members of hostages kidnapped by Hamas. By asking the court to order a halt to the military operation in Gaza, "the petitioner seeks to frustrate Israel's inherent right to defend itself ... and render Israel defenseless," Becker said.

"(South Africa's) application and request should be rejected for what they are, defamation," Becker said.

The decisions of the ICJ are final and without appeal - but the court has no way to enforce them. The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted after the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."

Since Israeli forces began their offensive, nearly all of Gaza's 2,3 million residents have been driven from their homes at least once, causing a humanitarian disaster.

Post-apartheid South Africa has long championed the "Palestinian cause," a relationship established when the African National Congress's struggle against white minority rule was "encouraged" by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. The court is expected to rule on possible emergency measures later this month, but will not then rule on genocide charges - those proceedings could take years.