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U.S. Defends Israel in International Court of Justice Genocide Case
(JTA) Shira Li Bartov - The U.S. in a formal filing on Thursday to the International Court of Justice defended Israel against the charge of genocide over its campaign in Gaza. The U.S. said the claim of genocide was "false" and part of a broader campaign "to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Jewish people and to justify or encourage terrorism against them." The U.S. argued that Israel did not show "specific intent" to destroy a group in whole or in part, a requirement of the legal definition of genocide. "Civilian casualties, even widespread civilian casualties, are not necessarily probative of genocidal intent, particularly when they occur in the context of an armed conflict involving urban combat." Israel has called the case "wholly unfounded in fact and law, morally repugnant, and represents an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court itself."