Israel to appear before ICJ to counter South Africa's Gaza genocide claim

Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague to contest South Africa's genocide accusations over the war with Hamas in Gaza.

South African government lawyers are preparing for the case to be heard on January 11 and 12.

The court said that South Africa would present its case on January 11, while Israel would respond the next day, with each side allotted two hours to present their case.

In its complaint, which it submitted to the court on Friday, South Africa relied on the "Genocide Convention". Both South Africa and Israel signed the agreement.

Israel's foreign ministry has said the suit was "baseless".

The war was triggered by a cross-border attack by Hamas fighters on October 7, which Israel says killed 1,200 people.

More than 22,000 Palestinians - the majority of them civilians - have been killed in Israeli strikes since the war began, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi said his country supports the lawsuit filed by South Africa. "We certainly support the lawsuit and our legal experts are preparing the files necessary to deal with this file," he said.