By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The United States of America (USA) has filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Namibia, Hungary, and Fiji also have filed declarations of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, which allows countries to intervene in cases involving the interpretation of a convention to which they are parties, even if they are not parties to the dispute.
In a filing on Thursday, the U.S. says that the accusations are part of a “broader campaign” against Israel and the Jewish people “to justify or encourage terrorism against them.”
Any party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide can intervene to contribute its assessment of the legal questions in the case.
In 2023, over 30 countries backed Ukraine in a separate case it brought against Russia.
More than a dozen other countries have filed interventions in the Israel case, including Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland. Many take a different view to that of the United States.
The U.S. filing stresses that a finding of genocide requires a “specific intent” to commit the crime and cautions the court, which sits in The Hague, against “lowering the standard.”
“Civilian casualties, even widespread civilian casualties, are not necessarily probative of genocidal intent, particularly when they occur in the context of an armed conflict involving urban combat,” the U.S. argues in the filing.
The ICJ has issued a series of orders concerning Israel’s conduct in Gaza since South Africa filed its case in 2023, including telling the country to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide.
More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel. However, a recent study, published in the Lancet Global Health medical journal, has put the death toll at much higher – finding that more than 75,000 Palestinians were killed in the first 16 months of the war, between 7 October 2023 and 5 January 2025.