The International Court of Justice will on Thursday begin hearing a politically explosive case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in its war in Gaza.

South Africa has brought the case under the 1948 Genocide Convention, claiming that by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them “conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”, Israel is responsible for a genocide.

Israel has furiously denied the allegations, arguing that South Africa’s case “lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the court”, and insisting that it complies with international law and that its forces are targeting only militants.