U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday denounced Israel being referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for alleged genocide during its war in Gaza, calling the claim “meritless.”
The Biden administration, he said, believes the submission against Israel “distracts the world” from efforts such as securing the remaining hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack of Israel, addressing the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and preventing the conflict from spreading.
“And moreover, the charge of genocide is meritless,” he added.
South Africa on Dec. 29 formally accused Israel of genocide in an 84-page filing at the ICJ, based in The Hague, Netherlands.
South Africa contends Israel violated the 1948 Genocide Convention, created after World War II and the Holocaust.
The court will hold its first hearing in the case Thursday, amid ongoing calls for a cease-fire in Israel’s brutal air and ground military assault that has killed around 23,000 Palestinians, about a third of them children.
The Biden administration has taken a hard line against South Africa’s genocide accusations against Israel, with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby last week also calling them “meritless.”
“We find this submission meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact, whatsoever,” Kirby said during a Jan. 3 White House press briefing.
Blinken, who met with top Israeli officials Tuesday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is attempting to reach an agreement for post-war planning to begin for the Gaza Strip, large swaths of which have been leveled by Israeli bombardment.
Blinken also said Tuesday that Israel agreed to let the United Nations carry out an “assessment mission” to determine what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
“In today’s meetings, I was also crystal clear: Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow,” Blinken said. “They must not be pressed to leave Gaza. As I told the prime minister, the United States unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, and the prime minister reaffirmed to me today that this is not the policy of Israel’s government.”
Blinken also stressed that Israel’s government must move toward a two-state solution for Arab nations in the region to help with lasting security, pointedly telling Netanyahu to wrangle far-right actions allowed under his government.
Partner countries “said that they are ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence,” Blinken said. “But they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state.”
He added: “Israel must stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively. Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security.”
Blinken, on a massive trip throughout the Middle East to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading into a regional war, has also met with the leaders of Greece, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia — with the latter three all having voiced support for South Africa’s case.
This is Blinken’s fourth trip to the region since the war began three months ago.
Updated at 5:57 p.m. ET