People in Orkney will again gather on the steps of St Magnus Cathedral between 1 and 2pm on Saturday 13th of January calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The International Court of Justice has been hearing the case brought by the Republic of South Africa against the state of Israel of committing genocide on the people of Gaza.

The South African legal team has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Israel had demonstrated a “pattern of genocidal conduct” since launching its full-scale war in Gaza, the 365 square kilometre strip of land it has occupied since 1967.

“This killing is nothing short of destruction of Palestinian life. It is inflicted deliberately, no-one is spared, not even newborn babies,” the court heard.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. On 29th of December 2023 The Republic of South Africa instituted proceedings against the State of Israel.

Adila Hassim, of the South African Legal team said that Israel’s actions had subjected the 2.3 million people of Gaza to an unprecedented level of attacks from the air, land and sea, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the destruction of homes and essential public infrastructure.

Israel had also prevented sufficient humanitarian aid from reaching those in need and created the risk of death by starvation and disease because of the impossibility of providing assistance “while bombs fall”.

“Palestinians in Gaza are subject to relentless bombing wherever they go,” Ms. Hassim told the court, adding that so many people had been killed that they were often buried unidentified in mass graves. An additional 60,000 Palestinians had been wounded and maimed, she noted.

“They are killed in their homes, in places where they seek shelter, in hospitals, in schools, in mosques, in churches, and as they tried to find food and water for their families. They have been killed if they have failed to evacuate the places to which they have fled and even if they attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”

As part of its claim against Israel, South Africa alleges that 6,000 bombs hit Gaza in the first week of the Israeli response to the Hamas-led attacks. This included the use of 2,000-pound bombs at least 200 times “in southern areas of the Strip that were designated as safe”, and in the north, where refugee camps were located.

These weapons were “some of the biggest and most destructive bombs available”, she maintained, adding that genocides “are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts”.

South Africa presented its case on Thursday, 11th and Israel on 12th.

At least 23,357 Palestinians have been killed, and 59,410 injured, since the start of the conflict on 7 October, according to the Gaza authorities. 

The hostilities were sparked by deadly Hamas attacks on southern Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 hostages seized, with roughly 136 still being held in captivity in Gaza.

Since the start of the ground operation, 184 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and 1,076 others injured according to the Israeli military.

Overall, 1.9 million in Gaza, or nearly 85 per cent of the population, have been displaced, with many families uprooted multiple times as they repeatedly move in search of safety.

More than 1.7 million people are now sheltering in facilities belonging to the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA.

The Orkney News has a series of films of the vigils in Orkney by Mike Robertson on our YouTube Channel.

Fiona Grahame