Israel defended the military necessity of its Gaza offensive on Friday at the International Court of Justice and asked judges to throw out a request by South Africa to order it to halt operations in Rafah and withdraw from the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noam called South Africa‘s case, which accuses Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, “completely divorced from facts and circumstances.”

“[The case] makes a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide,” Noam said. He called it “an obscene exploitation of the most sacred convention,” referring to the international treaty banning genocide, agreed after the Holocaust of European Jews in World War Two.

The convention requires all countries to act to prevent genocide, and the ICJ, also known as the World Court, which hears disputes between states, has concluded that this gives South Africa a right to make the case.

A woman who yelled “liars!” during Israel‘s presentation was removed by security guards, a rare protest in the “Great Hall of Justice” courtroom in The Hague.

“There is a tragic war going on, but there is no genocide” in Gaza, Noam said.

In past rulings, the court has rejected Israel‘s demands to dismiss the case and ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians, while stopping short of ordering it to halt the assault.

Ahead of Israel‘s presentation, several dozen pro-Israeli protesters gathered outside, displaying photographs of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and demanding their release.

The South African legal team, which set out its case for fresh emergency measures the previous day, framed the Israeli military operation as part of a genocidal plan aimed at bringing about the destruction of the Palestinian people.

South Africa‘s ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, requested the court to order Israel to “immediately, totally, and unconditionally withdraw the Israeli army from the entirety of the Gaza Strip.”

South Africa brought its latest request for emergency action in response to an Israeli military offensive in Rafah, the Hamas terror group’s last bastion at the southern edge of Gaza and refuge for about a million people who fled the fighting further north.

Israel‘s Noam said that Israel‘s military operations were not aimed at civilians, but at Hamas terrorists using Rafah as a stronghold, who have tunnel systems which could be used to smuggle hostages and terrorists out of Gaza.

Examples of alleged violations by Israel raised by South Africa were “not evidence of a policy of illegal behaviur, let alone a policy of genocide,” he said. Ordering Israel to withdraw its troops would sentence remaining hostages in Gaza to death, Noam said.

The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel from neighboring Gaza, murdering 1,200 people and abducting over 250 others as hostages. In response, Israel launched a military campaign in Hamas-ruled Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying the terrorist group.

This week’s hearings focus only on issuing emergency measures and it will likely take years before the court can rule on the underlying genocide charge. A decision on the request for emergency measures is expected next week.

The post Israel Tells World Court South Africa Case Makes a Mockery of Genocide first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

French police shot dead a knife-wielding Algerian man who set fire to a synagogue and threatened police in the city of Rouen on Friday in the latest antisemitic attack, officials said.

“An armed man somehow climbed up the synagogue and threw an object, a sort of Molotov cocktail, into the main praying room,” said mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, adding that nobody else was harmed in the shocked city in the northwestern Normandy region.

Police found the man on the synagogue roof with an iron bar and kitchen knife, shooting him when he defied orders to stop.

France, like many countries across Europe, has seen a huge spike in anti-Jewish acts since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s military response in Gaza.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attacker’s bid for a residency permit had been recently rejected. He was otherwise not on the radar of police or intelligence services.

“This antisemitic act affects us all deeply,” Darmanin said after visiting the synagogue, adding that France was doing all it could to protect its Jewish community.

The synagogue‘s rabbi Chmouel Lubecki said his wife was there at the time of the attack.

“We had a great fright,” he told BFM TV.

His wife “heard gunshots and screams … and then she saw smoke coming from the synagogue, so she immediately went down, she helped the firefighters get in the synagogue.”

Such an attack was expected, he said, due to the rise in antisemitism. “We had this fear inside of us, but when it actually happens, it’s still shocking.”

Natacha Ben Haim, president of Normandy’s Jewish community, said the praying room’s walls and a lot of furniture had been blackened by fire and smoke. “It’s catastrophic. Yes, I’m upset, I’m very upset,” she told reporters.

OLYMPICS COMING

France hosts the Olympic Summer Games in two months and is on the highest level of alert given a complex geopolitical backdrop in the Middle East and Europe’s eastern flank.

Prosecutor Frederic Teillet said a police officer followed correct procedure in opening fire after the attacker ran towards him brandishing the knife and ignoring a command to halt.

“Arriving on site [at the synagogue], firefighters and police spotted a man on the roof of the synagogue, he was brandishing an iron bar in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other,” he said, describing smoke coming out of the windows.

The synagogue was later blocked off by police officers as evidence was collected. Mayor Mayer-Rossignol said it was surrounded by a series of security cameras.

France has recorded 366 antisemitic acts in the first three months of 2024, three times as many as the same period last year.

“No one can deny this antisemitic wave. No one can deny the fact that it is estimated that French Jews represent 1 percent of the French population, but that more than 60 percent of anti-religious acts are antisemitic acts,” he said.

Rabbi Lubecki urged the community to carry on as usual.

“Tonight is Shabbat. It is important to light the Shabbat candles to show that we are not afraid and that we continue to practice our Judaism despite the circumstances,” he said.

The post French Police Kill Algerian Who Set Fire to Rouen Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Two weeks ago, in the early dawn hours of May 2, pro-Palestine protesters set up 55 tents on the grassy King’s College Circle at the University of Toronto. With the number of tents growing, now up to 120 as of May 13, and discussions ongoing between protesters and the university, Jewish students and professors are […]

The post Does the protest encampment at the University of Toronto make Jews unsafe? Depends which side of the fence you’re on while asking the question appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.