South Africa’s legal team at The Hague expressed confidence Thursday, just ahead of the start of public hearings in the country’s genocide case against Israel.
The delegation’s Lead Counsel, John Dugard, told Sophie Mokoena, foreign editor for South Africa’s national broadcaster SABC, that he was “very, very positive.”
Alongside him, Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, stated, “We are making history. “South Africa is creating history for humanity and Palestine.”
The South African team, led by Dugard, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, will present hard evidence in the case at the International Court of Justice on Thursday, accusing Israel of genocide and violating the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Dugard, regarded as one of South Africa’s leading international legal specialists, has previous experience with the International Court of Justice, having served as an ad hoc judge in 2008.
South Africa accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip in an 84-page filing submitted last month, outlining its case with exhaustive details of the deadly actions since October, including mass killings and destruction, as well as crippling restrictions on essentials such as water, food, medicine, fuel, shelter, and other types of humanitarian aid.
Both sides will present their arguments to judges in The Hague over a two-day period.