Overview of the courtroom at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands on 22 April, 2024 [Selman Aksünger/Anadolu Agency]
Ireland will formally join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel following government approval and will be asking the Court to “broaden its interpretation” of what constitutes genocide, the nation’s Foreign Minister said Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.
Ireland will join the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague this month, Micheal Martin said in a statement.
“There has been a collective punishment of the Palestinian people through the intent and impact of military actions of Israel in Gaza, leaving 44,000 dead and millions of civilians displaced,” Martin said following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
He stressed that, by legally intervening in South Africa’s case, Dublin will also be asking the ICJ to “broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a State”.
“We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimised,” underlined Martin.
He went on to say that Ireland’s view of the Convention is broader and prioritises the protection of civilian life as the government will promote that interpretation in its intervention in this case.
Martin added that the government has also approved joining Gambia’s case against Myanmar under the same convention.
In October 2023, Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has so far killed over 44,800 people, mostly women and children, and now faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Original artticle republished from MIMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris attends a press conference at Government Buildings in Dublin on April 12, 2024 [PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images]
Ireland’s Prime Minister, on Thursday, said that 40,000 dead in Gaza is a “milestone the world must be ashamed of”, Anadolu Agency reports.
“International diplomacy has failed to protect innocent children, some only days old,” Simon Harris said on X.
He called on Israel to stop the bombings in Gaza and asked Hamas to release the hostages.
In addition to his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Harris urged the EU to reassess its association agreement with Israel.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.
The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,400 others, according to local health authorities.
Over 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.
Palestinian child, injured in the Israeli attack on Abu Aisha family house is taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on June 14, 2024. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A joint statement calls on “all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, [and] crimes against humanity.”
Ninety-three nations on Friday, all them state parties to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, reiterated their support for the ICC as it assesses an application for arrest warrants of high level Israeli government officials accused of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza.
The 93 countries—including Canada, Bangladesh, Belgium, Ireland, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Chile, Germany, France, Mongolia, Mexico, New Zealand, and scores of other—cited separate ICC statements defending its mandate for independence and upheld in their joint statement “that the Court, its officials and staff shall carry out their professional duties as international civil servants without intimidation.”
Though neither nation is named in the joint statement, both the United States and Israel have publicly condemned ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan for his May 20 arrest warrant applications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in the Gaza Strip.
Khan also submitted arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh for their alleged roles in the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Following Khan’s announcement in May, U.S. President Joe Biden said, “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
In April it was reported that the U.S. government was working behind the scenes to block the ICC from issuing any arrest warrants targeting Israel officials. Neither Israel nor the U.S. is party to the Rome Statute, though the United Nations has recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), where the alleged war crimes by the occupying power, Israel, took place.
After Khan made his application for warrants, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’ve been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it.” On June 4, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with 42 Democrats, passed a measure that would sanction ICC officials if the arrest warrants for any Israeli officials were approved or carried out.
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, was among those who applauded Friday’s public statement.
Rajagapol thanked the signatory nations “for defending the ICC and standing up against the bullies, including the relics from the U.S. Senate whose idea of engaging with the world is to use threats,” a possible reference to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) who denounced Khan’s applications as “outrageous,” applauded the House approval of sanctions, and vowed further punishment for the ICC.
Such punitive measures and high-profile threats directed at the ICC appeared to be the exact kind of intimidation Friday’s joint pledge of support is responding to.
93 governments sign this statement of support for the International Criminal Court after others criticized the prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials and it emerges that the Israeli government had threatened the prosecutor to avoid investigation. pic.twitter.com/4BwBUsOOzR
“The ICC, as the world’s first and only permanent international criminal court, is an essential component of the international peace and security architecture,” the statement reads. “We therefore call on all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, grave crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.”
With their show of unified support for the ICC and its mandate, the countries said they aim to “contribute to ending impunity for such crimes and preventing their recurrence while defending the progress we have made together to guarantee lasting respect for international humanitarian law, human rights, the of law and the enforcement of international criminal justice.”
Palestinian and South African flags are seen at a January 13, 2024 protest for Gaza in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo: Stringer/Andalou via Getty Images)
“What we saw on October 7 in Israel, and what we are seeing in Gaza now, represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale,” said one top Irish official.
Citing Israel’s “blatant” human rights violations in Gaza, Ireland’s second-highest-ranking official said Wednesday that the country will join the South Africa-led genocide case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Irish Tánaiste Micheál Martin—the equivalent of a deputy prime minister in other parliamentary nations—said that Ireland decided to intervene in the case after analyzing the “legal and policy issues” pertaining to the case under review by the United Nations’ top court.
“It is for the court to determine whether genocide is being committed,” Martin—who also serves as Ireland’s foreign and defense minister—said in a statement. “But I want to be clear in reiterating what I have said many times in the last few months; what we saw on October 7 in Israel, and what we are seeing in Gaza now, represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale.”
Important decision that Ireland will intervene in the South Africa v Israel case at the ICJ
Accountability is the cornerstone of international law & the functioning of the global multilateral system; in respect of all parties to all conflicts, state and non-state actors alike https://t.co/RsOQQu2GpO
The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population.
The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough. The U.N. Security Council has demanded an immediate cease-fire, the unconditional release of hostages, and the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. The European Council has echoed this call.
South Africa’s case—which is supported by over 30 countries, the Arab League, African Union, and others—incisively details Israel’s conduct in the war, including the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children; the wounding of tens of thousands more; the forcible displacement of 90% of the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people; and the inflicting of conditions leading to widespread starvation and disease. The filing also cited numerous genocidal statements by Israeli officials.
On January 26, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and ordered its government and military to prevent genocidal acts. Palestinian and international human rights defenders say Israel has ignored the order.
A draft report released this week by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a move that came on the same day as the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the ongoing war.
“The situation could not be more stark; half the population of Gaza face imminent famine and 100% of the population face acute food insecurity,” said Martin. “As the U.N. secretary-general said as he inspected long lines of blocked relief trucks waiting to enter Gaza during his visit to Rafah at the weekend: ‘It is time to truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid. The choice is clear: surge or starvation.’ I echo his words today.”
In a St. Partick’s Day White House meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden—a staunch supporter of Israel—Irish Toaiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar, who announced earlier this month that he would soon step down, said that “the Irish people are deeply troubled about the catastrophe that’s unfolding before our eyes in Gaza.”
“And when I travel the world, leaders often ask me why the Irish have such empathy for the Palestinian people,” he added. “And the answer is simple: We see our history in their eyes—a story of displacement, of dispossession and national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now hunger.”
Ireland’s SDLP confirms full Washington boycott for St Patrick’s week in Gaza protest
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood speaking during the Social Democrat and Labour Party (SDLP) spring conference at St. Columb’s Hall in Derry, March 25, 2023
THE Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) has said it would not be sending any representatives to Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day due to the conflict in Gaza.
The party had already announced a boycott of celebratory St Patrick’s events at the White House, in protest against the situation in Palestine and the Biden administration’s support for Israel, but it was still planning to send a delegation to Washington to raise its concerns.
Announcing the plan in January, the party said its delegation would “engage with senior lawmakers, Irish Americans and Palestinian Americans to make the case for an end to violence.”
However, party leader Colum Eastwood has confirmed the party is no longer planning to send a delegation.
“The situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate,” he said.
“More children have been killed, communities obliterated and thousands of people displaced as a result of this horrifying conflict. And now, during the holy month of Ramadan, we have clear warnings that starvation is being used as a weapon of war against the Palestinian people.
