Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused South Africa of "cowardice" and lying for filing a genocide lawsuit against Israel, saying the Israeli military is the most "moral" in the world.
"No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas. It would murder all of us if it could. In contrast, the IDF [Israel Defense Force] is acting as morally as possible; it is doing everything to avoid harming civilians while Hamas is doing everything to harm them and is using them as human shields," Netanyahu said on X.
At the same time, he asked where South Africa was when "millions" of people were being killed in Syria, Yemen and other countries.
"You were not there because everything you are doing now is only hot air, lies and vanity. We will continue our defensive war, the justice and morality of which is without peer," Netanyahu added.
On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 21,800 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.