Israel is preparing to defend itself at the top United Nations court against accusations of genocide in Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rebuffed for the first time calls by some right-wing ministers to permanently occupy the enclave.
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As Israel's war against Hamas militants rages in Gaza, the International Court of Justice in the Hague was set to hold two days of hearings in a case brought by South Africa in December claiming the war violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
"The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel, as Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas rapist regime," Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said.
The hearings will deal exclusively with South Africa's request for an emergency order that Israel suspend military action in Gaza while the court, also known as the World Court, hears the merits of the case - a process that could take years.
Colombia and Brazil expressed their support of South Africa late on Wednesday.
Israel launched its offensive after Hamas fighters carried out an October 7 cross-border rampage in which Israel says 1200 people were killed and 240 abducted.
Since then, Israeli forces have laid waste to much of Gaza, and almost all its 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes at least once, causing a humanitarian catastrophe.
More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The US rejected South Africa's genocide claims while urging Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
"Allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded," State Department spokesman Matt Miller said in a statement.
Miller defended Israel's "right to defend itself against Hamas' terrorist acts", adding Israel must "comply with international humanitarian law" and "look for more ways to prevent civilian harm and to investigate credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law when they arise".
On the eve of the hearings, Netanyahu opposed calls from right-wing members of his government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for Palestinians to leave Gaza voluntarily, making way for Israelis to settle there.
"I want to make a few points absolutely clear: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population," Netanyahu said on social media platform X.
Jordan and Egypt warned on Wednesday against any Israeli re-occupation of the Gaza Strip and appealed for uprooted residents to be allowed to return home.
In Gaza, Israeli strikes intensified despite Israel's pledge to pull out some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign.
Israel's chief military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a briefing the military was focusing its operations on Khan Younis and the refugee camps in the centre of the Strip.
In the latest sign of the three-month-old war spreading, US and British warships in the Red Sea shot down 21 drones and missiles aimed at shipping lanes by Yemen's Houthis.
The UN Security Council approved a resolution demanding the Houthis immediately cease the shipping attacks.
The World Health Organisation cancelled a planned medical aid mission to Gaza due to security concerns - the sixth such cancellation in two weeks.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said four of its staffers were killed by an Israeli strike near Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, while Palestinian health officials said four children were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to protect and aid civilians in Gaza during a meeting with Palestinian leaders including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority said Abbas told Blinken no Palestinians should be displaced from Gaza or the West Bank.
Australian Associated Press
