LONDON: Ireland has joined the South African genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the New York Times reported.
The filing comes months after Ireland said it would intervene in the case. South Africa brought its case to the UN’s highest judicial body in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
A court statement on Tuesday said: “Ireland, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
A first ruling in January last year saw the ICJ order Israel to restrain its attacks in Gaza. In May, the court ordered Israel to immediately cease its offensive in Rafah.
A spokesperson for the Irish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday: “It is important for the court, in its consideration of any multilateral convention, to understand how other parties to that convention interpret and apply it.”
Micheal Martin, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, last month said: “There has been a collective punishment of the Palestinian people through the intent and impact of military actions of Israel in Gaza, leaving 44,000 dead and millions of civilians displaced.”
Ireland would request the court to broaden its interpretation of genocide by a state, he said, adding: “We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized.”
Experts believe that the court will not rule on the genocide charge for several years. Last month, Israel said it was closing its embassy in Dublin, citing “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.”
