Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade what progress is being made on the detailed assessment of whether there is a risk that genocide is being committed in the context of the war in Gaza as a first step towards fulfilling Ireland's duty to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention of 1948; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5079/24]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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22. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has met with or received any correspondence from representatives of South Africa in regards to their case against Israel in the International Court of Justice; and if so, if he would provide details of the correspondence. [5589/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 12 and 22 together.

I welcome the decision by the International Court of Justice to order provisional measures in the South Africa v Israel case.

In particular, the Court’s order to Israel to ensure its military does not commit actions prohibited under the Genocide Convention - and takes immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza - are very significant.

The Court’s Order is legally binding. As I set out in my statement on the case, Israel must urgently implement all provisional measures set out in the Order, and the Government will be closely monitoring their implementation by Israel.

Ireland has called for humanitarian access and the protection of civilians since the very beginning of the conflict. We continue to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire; the unconditional release of all hostages; and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

I have asked my Department to conduct a detailed and rigorous legal analysis of the Genocide Convention and the provisional measures ordered by the Court, and to consult with partners – including South Africa – with a view to deciding whether Ireland should seek to intervene in this case.

I last spoke to my South African counterpart, Foreign Minister Pandor, on 19 December. While Minister Pandor did not refer to South Africa’s intention to initiate proceedings under the Genocide Convention, she expressed her strong appreciation for our principled position in relation to the conflict in Gaza. Officials in my Department have already engaged with South African Officials following the Court's Order and I expect that engagement to continue over the coming months.

Interventions by states in cases such as this one do not result in the intervening state joining one side of the dispute or the other. Rather, interventions aim to assert a legal interpretation of the issue at hand, or to protect an interest of a legal nature that may be affected by the Court’s decision.

States usually seek the Court’s permission to intervene only once the applicant, in this case South Africa, has filed its memorial, which is likely to take some months. This is what occurred in the other recent cases in respect of the Genocide Convention, including Ukraine v Russia and The Gambia v Myanmar.

In the meantime, Ireland is participating in an ongoing advisory opinion case at the ICJ related to Israeli practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Attorney General will represent Ireland in oral hearings in this case this month.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is also continuing to investigate serious allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in and from Gaza, in the context of a wider investigation into the situation in Palestine since 2014.