Israel recently closed its embassy in Ireland, blaming its decision on Ireland’s allegedly “extreme anti-Israel policies”. This followed the Irish government announcement that it would formally intervene in the South African case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which South Africa alleges that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza.
Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, said that Ireland is concerned about previously narrow interpretations of genocide leading to a “culture of impunity”. This suggests that Ireland is concerned that difficulties lie ahead in the case, which the country may attempt to address. Such concerns are well founded.
Gaza health officials have stated that in the Israeli response to the October 7 2023 attack launched from Gaza more than 45,000 Gazan Palestinians have been killed. It is clear that the situation there is dire. Yet, killing even that many people is not necessarily classed as genocide as a matter of law.
