THE HAGUE, Netherlands (NEWSnet/AP) — Israel insisted at the United Nations’ highest court Friday that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people, adding it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.

This was the second of two days of hearings, at which ICJ President Joan E. Donoghue said the court would rule on the request for urgent measures “as soon as possible.”

South African lawyers asked the court Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in the besieged coastal territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. A decision on that request will probably take weeks, and the full case is likely to last years — and it's unclear if Israel would follow any court orders.

Israeli leaders defend their air and ground offensive in Gaza as a legitimate response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, when militants stormed through Israeli communities, killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostage.

Israeli legal advisor Tal Becker told a packed auditorium at the ornate Palace of Peace in The Hague that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”

On Friday, Israel focused on the brutality of the Oct. 7 attacks, presenting chilling video and audio to a hushed audience.

South Africa’s request for an immediate halt to the Gaza fighting, he said, amounts to an attempt to prevent Israel from defending itself against that assault.

Even when acting in self-defense, countries are required by international law to follow the rules of war, and judges must decide if Israel has.

Israel often boycotts international tribunals and U.N. investigations, saying they are unfair and biased. But this time, Israeli leaders took the rare step of sending a high-level legal team.

Still, Becker dismissed the accusations as crude and attention-seeking.

He said the charges Israel is facing should be leveled at Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction and which the U.S. and Western allies consider a terrorist group.

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