TEL AVIV — Israel is sending top legal minds, including a Holocaust survivor, to The Hague this week to counter allegations it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The robust engagement with the International Court of Justice is unusual for Israel, which normally considers international tribunals unfair and biased.

Participating rather than boycotting reflects Israeli concerns judges could order Israel to halt its war against Hamas and tarnish its image internationally.

“Israel cannot run away from an accusation that is so serious,” said Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Israel has tapped a former Israeli Supreme Court chief justice to join the court's 15 regular members who will rule on the accusation. It has also enlisted a British barrister and lauded international law expert as part of its defence team.

Israel hopes their expertise will trounce the South African claim that Israel's military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel claimed halting the war with Hamas still intact and captive hostages would amount to a Hamas victory.

The genocide charge strikes at the heart of Israel’s national identity. The country sees itself as a bulwark of security for Jews after 6 million were killed in the Holocaust. International support for Israel’s creation in 1948 was deeply rooted in outrage over Nazi atrocities.

Israel's unprecedented air, ground and sea offensive has killed more than 23,200 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, according to health officials in Gaza.

Israel's military campaign has displaced roughly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, many with no homes to return to.

More than a quarter of the population is starving.

US defends its veto

The United States defended its veto of a call for the immediate suspension of hostilities in Gaza at a UN meeting on Tuesday.

Washington has again faced demands by the Palestinians and many other countries to help secure a ceasefire now in the Israel Hamas war.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called the Russian-proposed amendment to a 22 December Security Council resolution which it vetoed “disconnected from the situation on the ground.”

The council then adopted a watered-down resolution, with Washington abstaining, calling for urgent steps to immediately allow expanded humanitarian aid into Gaza, “and to create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."

Wood called it “striking” that those urging an end to the conflict have made very few demands of Hamas, following its surprise 7 October assault into southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people.

No-one was urging the Palestinian militants “to stop hiding behind civilians, lay down its arms, and surrender,” he claimed.

Wood reiterated ongoing US efforts to secure a “pause” in the fighting to get 136 Israeli hostages out of Gaza.

Some observers challenge the human shields argument often raised by Israel and its allies, claiming it is used to deflect attention from Israeli violence and does not omit obligations to protect civilian life under international law. — Euronews