Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is an organ of the UN for civil complaints, and Israel is a signatory to its charter. But South Africa’s latest action may well be symbolic. It means nothing to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sworn not to stop the war in Gaza until the last member of Hamas has been eliminated.
In pursuit of that remnant — in hospitals, schools, UN safe spaces, bunkers, tunnels — at least 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza. No one is exactly sure how many of the dead are members of Hamas, although Israeli military authorities claim they’re hunting them down.
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Depending on where you’re getting your figures, the number of children, women and innocents (including humanitarian workers) caught in the crossfire is between 12,600 and 15,000. After three months of bombardment, the last Hamas member — and we don’t know how many survivors there are — is obviously still on the run. The deadly hunt goes on, as does the war.
First strike
The deadly attack by Hamas on Israeli holidaymakers, tourists and picnickers on October 7 in the coastal town of Ashkelon and border towns provoked a global outrage and evoked memories of the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. Israel was obliged to defend itself and take reasonable steps to prevent a recurrence.
It does appear, however, that Israel under Netanyahu and with the backing of the US, appears to be telling the world that “reasonable steps” mean, among other things, the killing of thousands of people, apart from the destruction of about 70% of the infrastructure in Gaza, on top of a mounting pile of humanitarian carnage.
I’m not sure that South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ would dissuade Netanyahu from the devastatingly bloody hunt for the last of Hamas. Even though South Africa’s parliament passed a motion to sever ties with Israel in November, to resort to ICJ was just another in a series of desperate attempts by a number of concerned countries to get Netanyahu to stop the war. Will he?
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I doubt that. Yet, I doubt that this bloody chase that is daily claiming more and more innocent lives on both sides, would track down the last Hamas — or even if it does, that it would not be replaced by something worse.
A page from history
Netanyahu has said this war is about justice for the innocent dead and security for Israel. Unfortunately, history hardly supports the view that a lasting peace can only be purchased by a pledge to destroy an idea or a people with the force of arms. The existence of the State of Israel today, despite all odds, is one proof of that.
If military victory alone could guarantee peace, we might not have had the Second World War. The unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles, for example, which included territorial annexation, demilitarisation and heavy war reparations, pushed Germany to the brink.
It created conditions that led to the rise of Hitler. In its blind and desperate pursuit of the last “aggressive German” in particular, for example, the Allied forces sowed the seed that led to the rise of exactly what they hated the most: the Weimar Republic, and finally, Nazi Germany.
Over 70 years later, the same mistake was repeated in Iraq. Saddam Hussein was framed as the Hannibal of Mesopotamia with a religious fervour, deadly cult following, and enough weapons to destroy the world — beginning, of course, with the potential destruction of its neighbours. Well, it turned out that while he was a really bad guy, his capacity had been maliciously exaggerated.
Yet, the effect of the war to eliminate Saddam left the country and the entire region broken, with religious extremism rising faster than had been known for decades in the region, and deadly franchises of extremism also exported for good measure.
In Afghanistan, the US was too obsessed with its bloody chase of the dangerous Taliban to learn the lessons that humbled Russia decades earlier. As surely as a stumble imitates a trot, after 20 years, an estimated 243,000 dead as a direct result of the war, and $2.3 trillion spent, the US left Afghanistan with its tail between its legs, leaving in charge the same dangerous, but savvier group of Taliban than the ones it set out to vanquish.
That was not all. Like cutting off the head to cure the headache, we saw this madness, this obsession to suss out, to hunt down, to chase, to search and destroy again in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi was thought to be spreading a dangerous form of extremism which the West, especially the US and the UK, said it could not ignore because Gaddafi was thought to possess the capacity to put his money — and tons of it — exactly where his mouth was.
The plan was to strike him and scatter the sheepfold. A US-led attack under President Barack Obama struck Gaddafi, of course, chasing him down a sewage drain and killing him there. But what have we got since? The sheep didn’t go away meekly as planned.
After the killing of Gaddafi, there has been a significant rise in extremism in the Sahel, destabilising much of the region from Mali to Chad and Niger, with consequences reaching many Northern states in Nigeria. Gaddafi is dead, but his spirit and the vacuum caused by his death have infused radical groups on the continent, making wolves of the sheepfold. The chase continues, but neither Libya nor its neighbours are secure.
Break the cycle
Netanyahu thinks it would be different in Israel. That the destruction of the last Hamas would deliver peace and security to Israel. It’s more complicated than that. If he hasn’t learnt anything from such futile chases in history, then his own personal story should have taught him.
Apart from his belated attempt to use this war to cover his government’s pre-attack intelligence failure and the chaos of the last few years of his premiership, Netanyahu is also a product of years of bitter resentment and distrust of Palestinians. He is proof that wars, more often than not, breed new warriors.
His resolve not to relent until he destroys the last Hamas has been shaped just as much by the killing of his brother, Yoni, after Arab hijackers diverted a plane to Entebbe, as it has by the half a dozen Arab-Israeli wars, a number of which he fought as a soldier.
In like manner, the current deadly attacks on Gaza might be raising a generation of non-Hamas Palestinian young people for whom this carnage makes no sense, except to breed in them a fresh spirit of revenge that only perpetuates the cycle of violence, even after the last Hamas has been destroyed. Netanyahu must end this war, if not for his own sake, then for the sake of his own children and children’s children.
October 7 was inexcusable and stands condemned. But unlike the previous wars with the Arabs, the long-term impact of this war on Gaza — beamed live by the minute to our homes with all the horrors, misery and deaths — will be hard for generations of Palestinian children to forget, even when allowance has been made for fabrications.
The cycle of heart-wrenching violence has to stop at some point. And the world must line up behind South Africa to increase the pressure on Netanyahu to stop.
Enough! DM
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Hamas predicted and wanted this response by Israel and in a twist : the war came at the right time for a beleaguered government. It will never end.
I agree and with Netanyahu fighting for his political life (and stay out of jail) and the IDF’s goal of redeeming their reputation , this is ending up as a disaster for all .
Absolutely!
Johan if you pay attention not that you cannot no one cares about Hamas except the terror acts, can you explain the death of 22600 Palestinians,denial of food water and medicine by the same occupier maiming them with bombs, this was never a stated objective of the armed aggression by Israel with one intention genocide and ethic cleansing,those Palestinians could not escape those tunnels because Israel enclosed them there without giving the permission to settle anywhere else inside Israel, you go where ever you want John, imagine if you could only go to any other province on permission from someone who decides you have to be controlled because of your race,colour or ethnic back ground think hard John 1200 Israel civilians died, 22600 Palestinians and the government has the best army in the world and has responsibilities to protect the citizens and those they occupy, thanks to the national party we never reached this cruelity
As you say, this war is indefensible and pressure must be exerted to stop it.
That includes pressure against Hamas too. Pressure to stop firing rockets and to enter into negotiations to release the kidnapped may be the most direct way to achieve that.
And what of the thousands of Palestinians held ‘hostage’ for over 70 years in Israeli jails, and judicial system that allows it to do so … like they did in apartheid SA ? Some people just don’t learn anything from history. By now one would think the experiment of a racist apartheid state ended in SA about 3 decades ago, would not continue in Israel ! No wonder the US (the sponsor) and Israel continued its endorsement of our apartheid state right to the end , hoping Israel would not be the only one left in that basket case ! Imagine in day and age Natanyahu spokesmen telling us how ‘they’ will ‘appoint’ (maybe anoint – like they did Karzai in Afganistan) a Palestinian sell out to become the ‘leadership’ of Gaza … so they can continue pulling the strings of that puppet and continue the subjugation and humiliation of Palestinians . The unending Israeli hubris is astounding ! As for the deafening silence of the ‘west’ in the face of this ongoing genocide in bringing the Israeli regime to book is spectacular but not surprising … given its own history of colonialist and genocidal expansionism across the globe. AND … they (the west) only make up 10% of the world population !!
Hahahahaha
Hahahahaha
I think this analysis is excellent. However, I don’t think that SA (ANC) has the moral standing to take Israel to the ICJ when they have turned a blind eye and supported perpetrators of other genocides.
Agree
An outstanding analysis, agreed, as is Lil Mars’ follow-up comment regarding the ANC’s lack of moral standing.
Azubuike your article is clearly articulated, however, you cherry-pick your “facts” to support your narrative. For example, you fail to mention the decimation of ISIS. An international coalition, including various countries’ military forces, Kurdish fighters, Iraqi security forces, and local militias, fought against ISIS. ISIS has been significantly weakened and suffered major losses in terms of territory and influence. Hamas is an Islamist Jihadi terrorist organisation bent on Israel’s destruction and the killing of every Jew. You cannot have a Jihadist organisation on your borders, promising to commit genocide at every opportunity, until all Jews are wiped out. Had the Nazis been successful in winning the war, there wouldn’t be a Jew alive today. Nazi ideology was crushed by winning the war. Israel needs to do this to Hamas. They need to understand that as long as they’re committed to murdering Israelis, they stand to lose far more than they will gain. Few take too much notice of South Africa charging Israel in the ICJ. If anything South Africa stands to lose from this. Uncertainty with South Africa’s stance on the war in Ukraine and fraternising with Iran – perceived transgressor of human rights and now South Africa taking Israel to the ICJ is possibly the coup de gras. South Africa could be “graduated” from a preferential trade agreement with the United States – worth billions in trade. The US Senate is not amused
Lets not forget what spawned the ideology of all the Islamic Radicals . In the 80’s US, Saudi Arabia with the help of Pakistan lit the torch for Mujahideen to fight (Jihad) against the “godless” Soviets in Afghanistan. The call went out for volunteers in mosques in Arab countries and afghan refugees in madrassas in Pakistan . The funding of these “religious warriors” was US and Saudi , trained by CIA , SAS and Pakistan Intelligence and weapons provided by CIA . Well the Soviets were defeated , but you cannot switch of religious fervor once started . Now we have all these groups founded by members of that original group .
International Criminal Court is a kangaroo court, a court controlled by US whose goal is to extend US jurisdiction to other countries, it is as simple as that. Therefore trying to take any country that is a US ally such as Israel to an International Criminal Court is childishly naive. Despite the fact that the war crimes committed by Israel rival the Nazi war crimes without any doubt , International court will never lift a finger against Israel.
SA has not taken Israel to the ICC – it has lodeged its complaint with the international ourt of justice.
Check your facts prior to opining.
It does not matter, both are kangaroo courts whose purpose is to extend US jurisdiction to other countries, a tool of US domination of the world.
If you’re going to comment, please get your facts correct, otherwise Shait up. Nazis murdered six million Jews as an act of genocide. The Palestinian population has grown by a million within the last decade
ICJ not ICC formed as a result of the Nuremburg Trials by UN members. The judges are voted on by member nations. The current Judge President is American but the court is independent . It cannot enforce its rulings , that is up to UN member nations. SA case against Israel is under the Genocide Convention also as a result of the Nuremburg Trials. It is the only international convention that all UN members are signatories. SA not accusing Israel of Genocide but acts that could lead to genocide which after the Serbia-Bosnia case it became case law for all signatories to act to prevent genocide. If SA claim is upheld , Israel does not have to heed the court and stop the war. The burden will fall on the US and other countries supplying weapons to Israel, any deliveries of arms after the ruling will make those nations complicit in all further actions by Israel. Also if case upheld the pressure will be on the Israeli Judicial System and its Attorney General to act on breaches of the convention since Israel has ratified the convention. Similar to how in SA irrespective of ANC government position the SA courts gave the order to arrest Omar al Bashir since SA had ratified the ICC convention.
I will give you that the US,UK and Germany must be trying all means to ensure that any country that wants their goodwill does not join the case . Also lobbying countries of the sitting judges.
Make no mistake about the horse-trading that the US and UK (the parents of the incest called Israel) must be furiously engaged in behind the scenes . No doubt the other parts called ‘western nations’ of that axis (with all representing no more than 10% of global population !) will be roped (more like dragooned -talk about proxies !) into that coalition … for want of any ethical compass.
How does the ANC feel about the dead women and children in Ukraine?
At the end of ww2 there was no one in Germany who really wanted to fight anymore. Nazism was an evil ideology that had run its course – everyone with half a brain knew it was discredited. If the war against Hamas is properly executed and taken to its logical conclusion, it will be the same with the fundamentalist and homicidal Hamas regime in Gaza.
Remember that what you call WWs were actually the barbarities between European (civilised nation?) states … which many countries from around the world were obliged to get involved in. Israel is the outcome the barbarities of those white tribes of the ‘west’. Did you possibly forget to mention that Zionism is on par with Nazism ? That is what drives Natanyahu and his ilk.
This is a racist response
Hahahaha – you’re touched mate!
How is this different from the Russian invasion of Ukraine? the SA cancerous government supports Russia. There are thousands of Ukrainian women and children killed. The difference is Hammas also kills Palestinians for no valid reason.
“No valid reason” ? You must be joking ! Ask the families of the thousands of Palestinians (including those of the West Bank) being ‘hostaged’ in Israeli jails … for resisting subjugation and humiliation … like the SA apartheid regime did.
Azubuike Ishiekwene is to be commended on a highly insightful and astute analysis. I started to read thinking that this would lead inevitably to “Israel bashing” but was surprised by the impartial and objective writing. As public opinion continues to shift this way and that with the ongoing events in Israel and Gaza, we need more rational and balanced anayses such as this one.
100% agree