Israel rejects the blood libel spread by SA

29 December 2023

Israel rejects with disgust the blood libel spread by South Africa in its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). South Africa's claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes a despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court.

South Africa is cooperating with a terrorist organization that is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization - which is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and sought to commit genocide on 7 October - is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by using them as human shields and stealing humanitarian aid from them.

Israel is committed to international law and acts in accordance with it, and directs its military efforts solely against the Hamas terrorist organization and the other terrorist organizations cooperating with Hamas. Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy, and is making every effort to limit harm to civilians and to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

We call on the International Court of Justice and the international community to completely reject South Africa’s baseless claims.

Issued by Lior Haiat, Spokesperson of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 December 2023