DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli official says Israel will defend itself against genocide charges filed by South Africa at the World Court.

Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office, accused South Africa on Tuesday of providing “political and legal cover” for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s war against the militant group.

“The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague to refute South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” Levy said.

South Africa filed the case at the UN’s top court on Friday, accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to stop its attacks.

Israel dismisses international lawsuits against the country as unfair and biased and rarely cooperates. The Israeli reaction signals that the government is taking the case seriously.

This is a recent update. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Heavy fighting was reported in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis on Tuesday, a day after Israel said it was withdrawing thousands of troops from other areas to potentially retreat from the massive Air and airstrikes to remove ground operations that have devastated the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages the militant group still holds in Gaza are released, saying it could take several months.

But ahead of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel is under increasing international pressure to scale back the offensive that has killed nearly 22,000 Palestinians. Blinken has called on Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

Israel’s War Cabinet is scheduled to meet later on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said. The agenda reportedly includes a discussion of the post-war settlements for Gaza, a highly polarizing issue in Israel. So far, Netanyahu has not presented a plan despite repeated US requests. He has rejected suggestions that the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers some self-governing areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, implement reforms and then take over administration of Gaza as a precursor to Palestinian statehood.

News of the troop withdrawal came as Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a key component of Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform plan that had deeply divided Israelis and threatened the military’s readiness before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.

The verdict appeared to have dealt a fatal blow to the justice plan. Netanyahu and his allies are unlikely to revive the divisive wartime initiative. Elections are widely expected once the fighting is over, and widespread anger in Israel over intelligence and security failures surrounding the Hamas attack could mean a poor showing for the current rulers.

The court ruling, meanwhile, could help Israel fend off accusations of genocide in Gaza brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. When deciding whether to intervene, the ICJ and other international tribunals consider whether countries have their own independent judicial authorities.

Troops rotate out, but the fight continues

The army said on Monday that five brigades, or several thousand soldiers, would be withdrawn from Gaza in the coming weeks. Some will head to bases for further training or rest, while many older reservists will go home. The war strained the economy as it prevented reservists from taking jobs, running their businesses, or returning to university studies.

The military has not said publicly whether the withdrawal reflects a new phase in the war. But the move is in line with Israeli leaders’ plans for a low-intensity campaign focused on remaining Hamas strongholds that could last much of the year.

Israel has said it is close to operational control of most of the northern Gaza Strip, reducing the need for military forces there. But heavy fighting continued in other areas of the Palestinian territory, particularly in the south, where many Hamas forces remain intact and where most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced late Monday that residents of seven Israeli communities near Gaza will soon be able to return to their homes. This is one of the most concrete signs that the army is confident that it has minimized the threat of rocket fire from parts of Gaza.

Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling overnight and Tuesday in the southern city of Khan Younis and in agricultural areas in the east, near the border with Israel. Fighting also broke out in and around the Bureij refugee camp that had been set up in the center of the Gaza Strip.

The army also issued evacuation orders for people living in parts of Nuseirat camp near Bureij. The orders were transmitted by telephone and distributed in leaflets throughout the warehouse.

Even in Gaza City, which is largely depopulated and where Israeli ground troops have been fighting militants for more than two months, there have been clashes in various neighborhoods and in the nearby Jabaliya urban refugee camp, according to residents.

The war was sparked by the militant group’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and took 240 others hostage.

Israel responded with an air, ground and sea offensive that killed more than 21,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, in the Hamas-controlled area, according to the Health Ministry. The count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. According to the Israeli military, 173 soldiers have died since the ground operation began.

Israel says, without providing evidence, that more than 8,000 militants have been killed. It blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll and claims the militants have set up shop in residential areas, including schools and hospitals.

The war has displaced about 85% of Gaza’s population and forced hundreds of thousands of people into crowded shelters or crowded tent camps in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed. Palestinians are left with the feeling that nowhere is safe.

The ruling could help Israel fend off genocide charges

The widespread death and destruction – unprecedented in the centuries-old Middle East conflict – prompted South Africa to file a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of “genocidal” acts aimed at “destroying the Palestinians in Gaza.” Israel rejected the allegations, calling them a “blood libel.”

South Africa asked the court in The Hague last week to issue an interim order for Israel to immediately stop its military operations in Gaza. If the case moves forward, it will take years, but an injunction could be issued within weeks.

It is unclear what specific impact an International Court of Justice ruling would have against Israel, but it would likely isolate the country politically and economically. “Israel cannot afford to ignore this,” said Barak Medina, a law professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He said the Supreme Court’s ruling against judicial reform could strengthen Israel’s case by showing that it has “an active and independent court” that can hold the government to account.

Meanwhile, the judicial reform itself appears to have failed.

Medina said the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key part of the proposed changes makes it unlikely that courts would allow the others.

Netanyahu’s coalition could propose a watered-down version, but it would have to be passed by parliament, a process that would reignite deep divisions within Israeli society and generate even more anger at the prime minister, whom many already blame for the failure to do so to prevent attack of October 7th.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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