THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Five Israeli reserve soldiers who recently fought in Gaza arrived Friday morning at the Hague to demonstrate outside of the International Court of Justice, as it is set to deliver its ruling on the complaint submitted by South Africa at the end of December. South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocidal acts in Gaza and has asked the ICJ to issue provisional measures, ordering Israel to stop its fighting in the Strip.
The five soldiers – Yedidya, Noy, Meir, David, and Nadav - arrived at the Hague as part of a delegation organized by the Israeli DiploAct group, aiming at battling the de-legitimization movement, improving Israel’s image and bringing the Israeli narrative to places it is less heard.
Reservists at Hague: 'Hamas uses civilians as human shields'
"We will go anywhere where Israel needs to be defended, whether it is in Gaza to fight or at the Hague," Amit Deri, chairman of the organization, formerly known as Reservists On Duty told The Jerusalem Post.
‘’We are all reserve soldiers who served in Gaza for over two months. We came here, to the Hague, to tell whoever is willing to listen that the accusation of genocide is completely unfounded. We have been in the field. We experienced everything, and I can testify for me and for my friends that we have done all that was in our power to minimize hurting innocent people,’’ soldier David also told the Post.
‘’Hamas is using the civilians as human shields. We have seen it again and again on the ground. They use civilians to shield the tunnel shafts, and they hide their ammunition in homes and in children’s rooms. Also, the terrorists of Hamas chose not to wear uniforms but rather to pretend to be civilians. Still, we did everything we could to avoid hurting civilians,’’ he added.
Yedidya agreed, ‘’I have been on the ground for weeks, and nothing there resembled even remotely the accusations leveled by South Africa.’’
Noy lives in New York. On October 7, he took the first flight out to come and join the war. ‘’I was in Gaza with my unit for long weeks. But during the war, I also fought the ‘Hasbara war’ with my Instagram account. And that is why I came here today to the Hague. To tell the truth. This ‘genocide’ talked about, it’s a ridiculous claim.,’’ he says.
Meir belongs to the same reserve unit as Noy and David. ‘’I’m just a regular citizen. A startup-man. On October 7, I was just at home with my family in Jerusalem. When the war started, we assembled our unit. We have all sorts in our team: Ashkenazi and Sephardic, Druze, Bedouins, Christians, and Muslims. How can you think that Israel is carrying out genocidal acts when you look at our unit, where Muslims, Jews and Christians fight together?’’
Nadav stresses that Hamas terrorists are placing civilians on purpose in hospitals and schools. ‘’They come out for short attacks and then run back to hide behind the civilians. This is what we are facing, so claiming that we are committing genocidal actions is completely baseless. The day the terrorists in Gaza decide that they are done fighting us, the war will simply be over.’’
