Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday morning met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was visiting Israel and the region.
The meeting, held in Tel Aviv, was their fifth since the atrocities carried out by Hamas against Israel in October 7.
President Herzog said that Israel is grateful for the US' support, stressing that this is "a war that affects international values and the values of the free world."
"On Thursday, a proceeding will start in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, whereby South Africa has sued Israel for supposed genocide. There's nothing more atrocious and preposterous than this claim," he said. "Actually, our enemies, the Hamas, in their charter call for the destruction and annihilation of the State of Israel, the only nation state of the Jewish people."
"The Convention Against Genocide was enacted by the international community following the worst atrocities of humankind, the Shoah, the Holocaust, which was aimed specifically against the Jews, the Jewish people, in order to eliminate the Jewish race, the Jewish people. In Hamas’s charter, it’s almost identical in many, many ways."
Calling out "the hypocrisy of South Africa," Herzog promised that Israel "will be there in the International Court of Justice, and will present proudly our case of using self-defense under our most inherent right under international humanitarian law, where we are doing our utmost under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground, to make sure that there will be no unintended consequences and no civilian casualties."
In Gaza, Israel is "alerting, we are calling, we are showing, we are sending leaflets, we are using all the means that international law enables us in order to move out people, so that we can unravel this huge city of terror underneath, in people's homes, living rooms and bedrooms, mosques and shops and schools."
"Yesterday we unraveled a huge factory of terror underneath a humanitarian corridor which Israel is employing in order to help the civilians of Gaza."
Concluding his statements, thanked the US, US President Joe Biden and his administration, and Blinken himself "for your moral call of duty, for the fact that you're standing steadfast with Israel in this battle, which has to do clearly with humanity and with the values of the free world."
Turning to Herzog, Blinken said, "We greatly value the President's leadership in these incredibly challenging times for Israel, for countries in the region, and especially for people who continue to suffer."
He also added that he plans to "sit with the families of some of the hostages and discuss our relentless efforts to bring everyone home, back with their families," noting that, "there's lots to talk about in particular, about the way forward."
