Ireland joins South Africa's ICJ 'genocide' case against Israel

Ireland plans to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice before the end of the year, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

Michael Martin’s comments came as the Irish parliament passed a non-binding motion agreeing that “genocide is being committed before our eyes by Israel in Gaza”.

South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice in December, arguing that the war in Gaza violated the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, a charge Israel has vehemently denied.

Several countries have added their weight to the proceedings, including Spain, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Libya.

Ireland had said it would petition the court once South Africa submitted a document supporting its claims, which it did on Monday.

“The government’s decision to intervene in the South African case was based on a detailed and rigorous legal analysis,” Martin told lawmakers in Ireland’s parliament, the Dail.

“Ireland is a strong supporter of the court’s work and is deeply committed to international law and accountability.”

South Africa announced on Monday that it had filed a so-called memorial with the International Court of Justice, claiming “evidence” of a “genocide” committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The document cannot be made public but consisted of “more than 750 pages of text, supported by supporting documents and appendices of more than 4,000 pages,” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said.

An official at the court in The Hague confirmed on Monday that it had received the document, but declined to provide further details.

Ireland is among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, which sparked the latest wave of violence in the region.

Irish governing parties have not opposed a symbolic motion tabled by opposition groups on Thursday accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinians. This means that the motion was passed during a sparsely attended session.

Ireland confirmed the appointment of a full Palestinian ambassador for the first time on Tuesday, after Dublin formally recognized a Palestinian state earlier this year.

Ambassador Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid told the Irish Times in an interview published on Thursday that Israel should be expelled from the UN for cutting ties with the Palestinian aid agency UNRWA.

“If you are a member of the UN and you do not follow the rules of this organization, what does it mean to be a member?” she was quoted as saying.

If Israel fails to suspend Israel, other countries could follow suit, added Abdalmajid, whose parents taught at UNRWA-run schools in Gaza.