The Irish government will intervene in the case taken by South Africa and argue that restricting food and other essentials in Gaza may constitute genocidal intent, the foreign minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday.
“We believe there is a case, given how this war has been conducted,” Martin said.
“We will be inviting the court to consider the issue of broadening how you determine whether genocide has taken place or not on the basis of an entire population being collectively punished.”
A clear pattern of behaviour had impeded humanitarian aid, resulting in widespread suffering, he said. “Half the population of Gaza is facing famine and 100% is experiencing food insecurity.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ireland is to seek to widen the definition of genocide to include blocking humanitarian aid in a landmark international court of justice (ICJ) case against Israel.
The Irish government will intervene in the case taken by South Africa and argue that restricting food and other essentials in Gaza may constitute genocidal intent, the foreign minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday.
In preliminary decision in January, the UN court in The Hague told Israel to prevent genocide but Martin, who is also Ireland’s tánaiste (deputy prime minister), said that since then humanitarian aid had halved, inflicting starvation.
Earlier on Wednesday the foreign ministry announced that Ireland will intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel under article 63 of the statue of the ICJ.
Dublin flagged the move in January when it said it was considering filing a declaration of intervention based on legal analysis of the Genocide Convention and consultation with other parties.
“Ireland or other intervening states could assist the court by explaining how a consistent record of international humanitarian law violations can be relevant to establishing genocidal intent.”
The original article contains 532 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!