Ireland officially intervenes in South Africa’s International Court of Justice case against Israel

Ireland official submission in the case taken by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza has been received by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The case, first brought by South Africa at the end of 2023, seeks a ruling that Israel is in breach of the Genocide Convention.

Its initial application described Israel’s actions since 7 October 2023 as “genocidal in character” and “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”.

It was later joined by Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Turkey, Chile, the Maldives, Bolivia, and now Ireland.

Israel has denied these accusations.

In March last year, the Irish government indicated its intention to officially intervene in the case. At the time, Tánaiste Micheál Martin explained his intentions by saying: “What we saw on 7 October in Israel, and what we are seeing in Gaza now, represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale.”

When the announcement of Ireland's intervention in the case was declared a few months ago, many false claims were made against the Irish Government by Israeli supporters and officials.

They said that Ireland had not condemned Hamas for its attack against Israel on 7 October 2023 or called for the release of hostages held in Gaza, and that Ireland wanted to change the definition of genocide so as to make a guilty verdict for Israel in the ICJ case more likely. Both claims have since been proven to be false.

Last month, Israel announced it would close its embassy in Dublin due to what its foreign minister called "the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government."

Taoiseach Simon Harris described the closure as a "deeply regrettable decision" adding that he utterly rejected the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel.