Hassim then listed a number of “genocidal acts” committed by Israel.

The “first genocidal act is mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza”, she said while showing photos of mass graves where bodies were buried “often unidentified”. No one – including newborns – was spared, she added.

The second genocidal act was serious bodily or mental harm inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza in violation of Article 2B of the Genocide Convention, Hassim argued. Israel’s attacks have left close to 60,000 Palestinians wounded and maimed, the majority of them women and children. Hassim argued that large numbers of Palestinian civilians, including children, have been arrested, blindfolded, forced to undress, loaded onto trucks and taken to unknown locations.

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a second lawyer representing South Africa, argued that “Israel’s political leaders, military commanders and persons holding official positions have systematically and in explicit terms declared their genocidal intent.”