South Africa accused Israel on Thursday of carrying out genocide in Gaza and demanded that the U.N.’s top court order an emergency suspension of Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Palestinian enclave. On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa said Israel’s offensive, which has demolished much of the coastal enclave and killed more than 23,000 people according to Gaza health authorities, aimed to bring about “the destruction of the population” of Gaza.