Ireland had said it would intervene in the case at the International Court of Justice, arguing that Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza amounted to collective punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ireland has formally joined South Africa\u2019s genocide case against Israel, according to a statement<\/a> on Tuesday from the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The filing, made on Monday, comes months after Ireland announced plans<\/a> to intervene in the case before the United Nations\u2019 highest judicial body<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIreland, 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,\u201d the court said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa brought its case to the I.C.J.<\/a> in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected the allegation, describing South Africa\u2019s filing as a \u201cdespicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an initial ruling in January 2024, the court ordered Israel<\/a> to restrain its attacks in Gaza<\/a>, and in May it ordered the country to immediately halt its military offensive<\/a> in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United Nations allows countries to \u201cintervene\u201d in proceedings if they are parties to the United Nations\u2019 1948 Genocide Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for Ireland\u2019s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the filing on Tuesday. \u201cIt is important for the Court, in its consideration of any multilateral convention, to understand how other parties to that convention interpret and apply it,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The filing was long anticipated. Last month, the government approved a plan to file its argument in the case, with Miche\u00e1l Martin, the deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, saying that it would be filed in The Hague, where the court is based, within weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere 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,\u201d Mr. Martin said in December, adding that Ireland would ask the court to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts say the court is not expected to rule on the genocide charge for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision to intervene in the case reflects Ireland\u2019s longstanding support for Palestinian civilians<\/a>, rooted in part in a shared history of British colonialism and in Ireland\u2019s own experience with a seemingly intractable sectarian conflict \u2014 The Troubles, which came to a close with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, Israel announced it was closing its embassy<\/a> in Dublin, citing what it said were \u201cthe extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.\u201d Israeli officials said the action did not mean that Israel was severing diplomatic relations with Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n