Indonesia files lawsuit against Israel at ICJ

Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported that Indonesia has filed a new lawsuit against the Israeli occupation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

In doing so, Indonesia joins South Africa, which filed the first lawsuit against Israel for committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry had previously assembled a team of experts to help draft Indonesia’s ICJ case to hold Israel accountable for its “policies and practices” in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to the local Jakarta Post website, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the case will help support global order based on international law, as well as support the Palestinians.

Marsudi’s statement was made ahead of a meeting of dozens of international law experts and academics in the capital, Jakarta.

Last week, the ICJ held two public hearings as part of the start of looking into the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of committing crimes of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On 29 December, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the ICJ, accusing Israel of committing crimes amounting to genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a fierce war for more than three months.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted, “Nobody will stop us — not The Hague, not the [Iranian-led] axis of evil and not anybody else.”

Netanyahu announced in a press conference: “We will continue the war in the Gaza Strip until we achieve all our objectives. The Hague and the axis of evil will not stop us,” but did not clarify what he meant by “the axis of evil”.

South Africa presents its case to the ICJ: Prof Vaughan Lowe KC