US files 11-page ICJ intervention, calls South Africa's genocide claims against Israel ‘false’
The United States has filed a declaration to intervene at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, rejecting Pretoria’s central allegation and urging judges not to lower the legal bar for proving genocide.
In its submission, Washington said the accusations of genocide are false and argued that genocide requires “specific intent,” warning that civilian deaths in urban warfare, even when widespread, do not automatically show genocidal intent.
The filing was made under Article 63 of the ICJ’s statute, which allows states that are parties to a treaty, in this case the 1948 Genocide Convention, to intervene when the court is interpreting that treaty, even if they are not a direct party to the dispute.
The ICJ’s case docket shows that Namibia, Hungary and Fiji also filed declarations of intervention on March 12, while the Netherlands and Iceland filed on March 11, widening international involvement in the long-running case.
South Africa launched the case in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts in Gaza in breach of the Genocide Convention. Israel has strongly denied the allegation.
The case is still at the written-arguments stage. South Africa filed its main memorial in October 2024, and Israel has received extensions for its counter-memorial, with the latest deadline set for March 12. Any final ruling is expected to take years.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
