On Monday, November 11, South Africa delivered an almost 5,000 page document to the United Nation’s top court in Hague, the Netherlands. The document is not yet public, but follows a claim by South Africa that Israel is guilty of committing Genocide against the Palestinians on the Gaza Strip. Despite these allegations, even coming from pro-Palestinian protesters all over the world, Israel denies the accusation. Recently, the Israeli government voted to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, (UNRWA), from providing aid to Gaza. As of now, over 43,700 of those living in Gaza are dead, and over 10,000 are missing.
11 other states have joined South Africa in accusing Israel of genocide. Of those, a few include Spain, Egypt, Nicaragua, and Turkey. With the recent vote of the Israeli government to ban aid from the United Nations, it is probable that more countries will follow South Africa’s claim as the Palestinians on the Gaza strip face severely unsanitary conditions, hunger, and displacement. With deaths and attacks on Lebanon and Iran, it is also possible that those two countries will join in on the claim. However, as they have both been attacked by Israel, they may want to avoid more attacks, and that’s what is holding them back from joining in on the accusation.
There is no apparent/obvious national interest for the countries that have accused Israel of genocide. This accusation falls under the category of issues of global cooperation. International norms typically include peaceful military alliances, efforts against world hunger, and efforts to maintain/gain human rights. The amount of deaths of Palestinians, as well as the attacks on Lebanon and Iran, demonstrate an attack on human rights, as the Palestinians represent a cultural and religious variation from Israel, and Israel is not respecting this difference.