South Africa asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to suspend Israel's military operation in Gaza was akin to a country sympathetic to the Nazi-dominated Axis powers making genocide accusations against the Allies to stop them from fighting, its lawyers have argued.
Advocate Christopher Staker, a member of the Bar of England and Wales, argued on behalf of Israel it would be absurd for the ICJ to grant South Africa the provisional measures it was seeking against the country under the provisions of the Genocide Convention, which are effectively aimed at ensuring a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
"Suppose that the Genocide Convention and the court [ICJ] had already been in existence during the Second World War, and that the Allied parties were all parties to the convention without reservation, while the Axis powers [including the Nazis] were not," he said.