Trade Union Congress (TUC) has asked the federal government to implement all agreements reached with organised labour in 2023, especially the national minimum wage. 

On October 1, President Bola Tinubu approved N35,000 as the provisional wage increment for all treasury-paid workers for six months as part of an agreement reached with the labour unions to avoid a nationwide strike due to the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Festus Osifo, TUC president, said the union had strived to ensure that social dialogue with the federal government prevailed.

He, however, said the federal government has failed to implement basic agreements with labour, saying “Our hope is not renewed yet”.

Osifo spoke in a New Year message jointly signed with Nuhu Toro, secretary-general of the union, on Wednesday.

He said organised labour had insisted that the October 2, 2023 agreements between the unions and the federal government be notarised by the court.

“However, government has serially violated the agreements. For instance, Item two states clearly that: ‘A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement’,” he said.

“Today, three months after, no such committee has been set up and this is our experience with this government in at least two previous agreements reached from June.

“TUC has resolved to demand of the Tinubu administration that in 2024, all agreements between labour and government should be implemented.

“This include the payment of the monthly N35,000 Wage Award to Public Servants in the Local Government, State and Federal services.

“These must be implemented until a new National Minimum Wage is implemented.”

Osifo said a new minimum wage must be negotiated, implemented, and if further delayed in the year, arrears must be paid.

He noted that inflation, which was running at 28.2 percent, must be drastically reduced to the Sub-Saharan African regional average of 9.4 percent.

The TUC president urged governments at state and federal levels to stop “the unnecessary, economically-unwise and unpatriotic tradition of taking loans”.

“This is especially when these loans only end up being used to purchase thousands of expensive jeeps for legislators, pampered members of the Executive and their spouses, among others,” he said.

He urged the government to stop “its ill-advised devaluation of the national currency”, adding that the move has led to mega inflation in the import-dependent economy.

The TUC president also called for drastic reduction in the price of petrol to repair the damage done to the economy and by ensuring local production of refined products.

Osifo added that the security of Nigerians should be the yardstick with which to determine whether the military, security chiefs and others should remain in office or be replaced.

He urged Tinubu to sanction officials for serious security breaches such as the Plateau killings.

He also said community policing should be prioritised alongside the mobilisation of the citizens to defend themselves against bandits.

“The Year 2024 holds a lot of promise for us all provided Nigerians, as a people, would unite and assert our authority over all powers,” he said.

“These include the Nigerian ruling class manning all branches, levels, institutions and organs of government.”

In December 2023, the federal government said a new minimum wage regime would take effect from April 1, 2024.

The Cable

Central Bank of Nigeria has released inaugural guidelines for banks opening cryptocurrency accounts, while retaining its ban on them holding or trading in virtual assets on their own behalf.

The rules, published on the CBN website on Tuesday, flesh out the regulator’s decision last month to lift its prohibition on banks operating accounts for crypto service providers.

“Current trends globally have shown that there is need to regulate the activities of virtual assets service providers which include cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets,” it said.

Nigeria joins other African regulators in extending oversight of cryptocurrencies, spurred by a string of corporate collapses capped by the bankruptcy of Bahamas-based exchange FTX in April. The continent’s most populous nation has seen a surge in virtual currency adoption, in part fueled by the steep decline of the nation’s fiat currency.

Only naira-based accounts will be permitted and there will be no cash withdrawals, the CBN said. The restrictions also bar clearing third-party checks through crypto accounts and will limit withdrawals to two per quarter.

South Africa, the backdrop to several of the world’s largest crypto scams, in July ordered crypto exchanges operating in the country to apply for licenses by the end of 2023.

That followed neighbor Botswana passing a law in 2022 to regulate the sector which lawmakers said risked becoming the “Wild West” of finance. Kenya has not licensed cryptocurrency activity but has also declined to outlaw it while it prepares regulations.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Mauritius has been pushing ahead with plans to launch a central bank digital currency as part of a broader strategy to embrace financial technology on the Indian Ocean island.

Bloomberg

Sierra Leone's ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma has been charged with four offences including treason for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the West African country's government in November, a court in the capital Freetown said on Wednesday.

The court's decision could escalate tensions in Sierra Leone coming after the attempted coup and a contentious election in which President Julius Maada Bio was reelected for a second term in June 2023.

Tensions have been on the rise in the country that is still recovering from a 1991-2002 civil war in which more than 50,000 were killed.

The result of the election was rejected by the main opposition candidate, and questioned by international partners including the United States and the European Union.

Gunmen on Nov. 26 attacked military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone, freeing about 2,200 inmates and killing more than 20 people.

The government said later that it was a foiled coup led mostly by Koroma's bodyguards. They summoned the ex-president for questioning at the start of December.

The former president condemned the attacks in a statement shortly after they happened.

Koroma's charges, which also include misprision of treason and two counts of harbouring, were read out while he stood in the dock and some of his supporters cried in the courtroom.

"A dangerous precedent has been set... We are dragging a former head of state - democratically elected - on trumped up charges under a political vendetta," Koroma’s lawyer, Joseph Kamara, told Reuters.

A high court later on Wednesday granted bail to the former president, who is currently restricted at his home in the capital. The case was adjourned until Jan. 17.

According to Sierra Leone's penal code, a person found guilty of treason could face imprisonment for life.

A letter from West Africa's main regional bloc, ECOWAS, dated Tuesday and seen by Reuters, said Nigeria had offered to host Koroma on a temporary basis, and that the former president had accepted the offer.

Sierra Leone's foreign minister, Timothy Kabba, told Reuters the government had received the letter, which he said did not accurately reflect the meeting President Bio has recently held with an ECOWAS delegation in Freetown.

Kabba said the government will "not countenance" the proposal to relocate Koroma.

Twelve other people also have been charged with treason in connection with the failed coup, including ex-police and correctional officers and a member of Koromoa's security detail, the government said on Tuesday.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia and Ukraine stage major POW exchange after UAE mediation

Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday announced their first exchange of prisoners of war in nearly five months, with more than 200 freed by each side after what both said was a complex negotiation involving mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

Russia's Defence Ministry said 248 military personnel had been handed over by Ukraine. Kyiv said it had brought home 230 people - 224 soldiers and six civilians - in what it said was the largest documented swap of troops so far.

The UAE's foreign ministry acknowledged its role, saying in a statement that the swap was made possible by its "strong friendly relations" with both Moscow and Kyiv.

It offered both further humanitarian efforts and to find a peaceful solution to the war.

A video released by Ukrainian authorities showed returning prisoners draped in the country's blue and yellow flag filing off a bus, singing the national anthem and shouting the patriotic greeting "Glory to Ukraine".

Most, but not all, appeared to be in good health.

One returnee shouted: "We are home! You didn't forget us!"

The Russian Ministry of Defence released a similar video of returning uniformed prisoners arriving in Belgorod in buses. "I'll be home in five hours, roughly speaking, that's going to be a joy," said one unnamed man.

Despite a lack of talks on how to end the 22-month war, Kyiv and Moscow have held many prisoner swaps since the early months of Russia's invasion in February 2022.

But the rate of the exchanges dropped in 2023 and the last one until this week's was in August.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's HUR Military Intelligence agency, singled out the UAE's "direct role", saying: "After a significant amount of time, we managed to carry out a very difficult prisoner swap."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was "truly a great day for Ukraine" and vowed to press on with further swaps facilitated by expanding what he called an "exchange fund" of captured Russian soldiers.

"The more Russians we capture, the more effective the negotiations regarding swaps will be," he said in his nightly video address.

He said some of the returnees had been previously listed as missing.

Ukraine's returnees came from various branches of its armed forces and included participants in the nearly three-month defence of the Azovstal steel plant in the port of Mariupol before it was captured by Russian forces in May 2022.

On the Russian side, a Defence Ministry statement said its released prisoners would undergo medical checks and treatment.

Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatyana Moskalkova, thanked President Vladimir Putin and the military and intelligence services for their efforts in the exchange.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia shoots down 12 Ukrainian missiles over Belgorod Region

Russian air defenses have shot down six Tochka-U missiles and six Olkha missiles over the Belgorod Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"This morning, on January 3, another attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack on facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation using rockets of the Olkha multiple launch rocket system and the Tochka-U missile launcher was foiled. Six missiles of the Tochka-U missile launcher and six rockets of the Olkha MLRS were destroyed over the Belgorod Region," the ministry said in a statement.

Reuters/Tass

Gary Fields

Alfred King was lying in the parking lot of a small apartment building, mortally wounded when police in Alexandria, Louisiana, got to the intersection of 12th and Magnolia streets shortly before 1:30 a.m., Jan. 20.

The 34-year-old was the first fatal shooting of 2023 in the small city where I grew up and a large portion of my family lives.

Alfred’s death was similar to some I have covered since my first in 1985, a 38-year period when hundreds of thousands of people of all races and ethnicities have died violently in the U.S.

I know the details of too many of those incidents, from school shootings to a drug hit in a phone booth. I’ve heard the scream of a mom coming home from work and seeing her son in the street, encircled by yellow police tape. I’ve watched more than one mother gently touch the face of her teenage son then close the lid on the casket.

Some stories are burned into memory, like the Washington, D.C., teenager who asked his mom to send him out of the region to escape the violence. He spent years away only to come home one weekend to plan his high school graduation party and be randomly stabbed to death by a stranger.

While I know some of those back stories, Alfred’s is the one I can personally trace from a decision made years ago by adults to gunshots near the end of a rundown street.

Alfred is my first cousin.

When he was 13 my wife and I tried to get legal custody of him after his mom was murdered, but his guardian said no.

I think about him often and the decision that kept him from reaching escape velocity, the things you need to go right to lift the weight of your birth circumstances off of you. Those include family, education, jobs, friends, neighborhoods, adult interventions, hard work and good luck.

We say people can be whatever they want to be. To a degree that is true, but moving through the socioeconomic levels of America’s economics-based caste system is like the Apollo moon missions of my youth. Millions of parts have to work perfectly to get you there, and back.

According to “Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: An Intergenerational Perspective,” part of the groundbreaking Opportunity Insights project based at Harvard, only 2.5% of Black kids born to a parent or parents in the bottom quintile move to the top quintile of household income. For white kids, the figure is 10.6%. What is more likely for both is they will stay in the poorest quintile or, at best, move up one level to lower middle class. For white kids, that figure is 53.4%, and for Black kids, 75.4%.

The focus on the statistics tends to be on the racial disparity. I see the disparity, but what I also see is that Black or white, less than half of the kids born poor move up much. Even if they make it one step, a car repair, a missed day at work or a high utility bill can begin a downward spiral.

And there are millions born into that world, although we treat it like a moral failing. One measure of Census data shows more than 10.7 million children younger than 18 lived below the poverty level in 2022, and that figure is undoubtedly higher because millions more lived in places where the incomes couldn’t be determined.

Millions of young people live in homes where social security payments, WIC, SNAP and TANF, various food, nutrition and income assistance programs, are the order of the day.

Poverty isn’t the purview of one race. Neither is violent death. Socioeconomics is a good predictor for victimhood and criminal justice involvement, as well as deficient health care and educational outcomes.

Alfred came into the world on the bottom economic rung and when he was 13 the critical decision was made that likely kept him there. His mom had been shot to death months before in Alexandria. My uncle, his dad, had done what he could but was broken down from working hard labor jobs, usually several at once and was living on limited income himself. He couldn’t promise his son much future.

The first time I met him Alfred was a thin, gangly, very shy kid who kept his head down, avoiding eye contact. He spoke softly and slowly and was the target of bullies.

I don’t remember him smiling — ever. Around me, at least, his nature was melancholy.

For Alfred, I was the cousin who had a charmed life. The truth is, for reasons I will never comprehend, I had nearly everything go right.

We love to talk about people pulling themselves up by their boot straps. A lot of people contributed to my boots and showed me how to use the straps. There were teachers, friends, family, neighbors and luck stirred together. That mixture was added to the foundation, a ninth-grade drop out unwed mom who truly valued education who married a good man who helped her raise me.

Alfred’s grades were not good. Something about the way he looked at me made me ask when he’d last had an eye exam. One optometrist visit and a pair of glasses later he could see the blackboard.

My wife and I decided then. We wanted to bring him back to Maryland where we live. We wanted legal custody so my work benefits could cover him. We also wanted to be able to make decisions on his behalf without unforeseen bureaucratic or legal barriers that might arise.

My now dead uncle said yes but his message to me was Alfred’s now late-grandmother said no. Alfred was getting a government check of some sort. I don’t know how much it paid or what program it was. This year I asked the Social Security Administration what it might have been and there were a couple of possibilities. As a minor, he could have been eligible for benefits because of his dead mom. It also might have been Supplemental Security Income for some health problem he had.

In a place where minimum wage was $5.15 an hour at the time and people lived on the edge of financial ruin, it did not matter how much, or for what. If you are born into a certain economic class everything goes towards basics: food, rent, utilities, clothing.

Alfred stayed in Louisiana.

Over the years, he reached adulthood and when I came home I would give him what cash I had, especially when he had kids of his own. By then he had a criminal record but he treated me the same and he checked on my mom: Aunt Shirley.

I can’t and won’t judge the decision that was made for the 13-year-old. I sadly understand the necessity of it. But I can wonder what would have happened if we had gotten him. I can’t say for certain everything would have been OK but I believe we could have given him more options to a different path. What I want remembered is changing his path would also have changed the lives of anyone he may have wronged, too.

There are abandoned houses and empty lots in the neighborhood where he lived and died. I have been there multiple times this year.

I have seen a few young kids there, born into circumstances they didn’t ask for, lives without margin for errors or bad luck. I pray for them and the millions of kids like them, regardless of race or ethnicity, that everything goes right and they reach escape velocity.

** Gary Fields, an award-winning, veteran journalist, writes about democracy for The Associated Press.

Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it recorded 112 incidences of crude oil theft across the Niger Delta in one week.

In a documentary posted on its X handle on Tuesday, NNPC said the incidents occurred between December 23, 2023 and December 29, 2023.

The national oil company listed the incident sources to include Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), Maton Engineering Nigeria Limited, Tantita Security Services, and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

Other highlighted sources are the NNPC command and control centre and government security agencies.

“In the past week, 42 illegal refineries were discovered in Konsho and Tebidaba in Bayelsa state; Obokofia in Imo state; Ogidigben, Mereje and Obodo Omadina, in Delta state,” NNPC said.

“Illegal refineries in Umuire, Abia state, and Upata in Rivers state, were also discovered and destroyed.” 

According to NNPC, 14 illegal connections were uncovered in several parts of the Niger Delta.

“In Owaza, Abia state, a tunnel covering an illegal connection was also uncovered while 10 cases of vandalism were discovered,” NNPC said.

“Illegal storage sites were discovered in Ebocha and Ton Kiri in Rivers state where oil pits were found.

“In Ogbia, Bayelsa state, sacks of crude oil were discovered. More illegal storage sites were uncovered in Urhonigbe, in Edo state; Ekuku-Agbor and Bomadi in Delta state.” 

NNPC said 22 wooden boats conveying stolen crude were discovered in Okrika and Tombia in Rivers state as well as Emereje, Delta state.

Meanwhile, the oil firm said during an operation, 11 vehicle arrests were made in Delta state.

“Eight of these incidents took place in the deep water, 46 in the eastern region, 32 in the central region, while 26 took place in the western region,” NNPC said. 

“Between the 23rd and 26th of December, 2023, 18 suspects were arrested.”

NNPC said it would not back down in the war against crude oil theft.

The Cable

The Federal Government has announced suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from Benin and Togo Republics.

In a statement on Tuesday signed by Augustina Obilor-Duru on behalf of the Director Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, the government lamented that “some Nigerians deploy nefarious means and unconscionable methods to get Degrees with the end objective of getting graduate job opportunities for which they are not qualified”.

It followed an investigative report by Daily Nigerian Newspaper titled “UNDERCOVER: How DAILY NIGERIAN reporter bagged Cotonou varsity degree in 6 weeks”.

According to the government, the suspension persists pending the outcome of an investigation involving the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education of Nigeria and the two countries as well the Department of State Security Services (DSS), and the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC).

It said the Education Ministry has set up a panel to “commence internal administrative processes to determine the culpability or otherwise of her staff for which applicable Public Service Rules would be applied”.

The statement called on Nigerians to cooperate with the committee and provide useful information that will assist in finding lasting solutions to the menace of Nigerians obtaining half-baked certificates from foreign universities.

“The issue of degree mills institutions, i.e institutions that exist on paper or operate in clandestine manner outside the control of regulators is a global problem that all countries grapple with. FME has been contending with the problem including illegal institutions located abroad or at home preying on unsuspecting, innocent Nigerians and some desperate Nigerians who deliberately patronize such outlets.

“Periodically, warnings have been issued by the Ministry and NUC against the resort to such institutions and in some instances, reports made to security agencies to clamp down on the perpetrators. The ministry will continue to review its strategy to plug any loopholes, processes and procedures and deal decisively with any conniving officials.

“The Ministry had always adopted the global standard for evaluation and accreditation of certificates of all forms which relies on receipt of the list of accredited courses and schools in all countries of the World.

“The Ministry wishes to assure Nigerians and the general public that, it is already putting in place mechanisms to sanitise the education sector, including dissuading the quest for degree certificates (locally or from foreign countries) through a re-invigorated focus on inclusivity, reliance on all skill sets.

“The Federal Ministry of Education is committed to collaborating with stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to consistently enhance the Nigerian education system and we value the public’s understanding and patience as we strive to address these issues.”

The Guardian

Suspected Boko Haram terrorists in military uniform have killed 12 persons and abducted one in Gatamarwa and Tsiha communities in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.

The latest attack came barely two weeks after the insurgents perpetrated a similar attack in Chibok, where they killed two persons and looted food stuff in some houses before settling them ablaze.

Police Public Relations officer, Borno State command, Nahum Daso Kenneth, confirmed the attack saying 12 corpses were recovered.

“The gunmen shot sporadically at the people in the two communities. So far, 12 corpses were recovered and two were injured,” he said.

He said the police commissioner and other security heads had ordered discreet investigation into the matter to bring the perpetrators to book.

The terrorists stormed the community of Gatamarwa around 5pm on Monday during the New Year celebration.

Sources told our correspondent on Tuesday that insurgents carrying weapons stormed the communities in large number.

“The insurgents who were heavily armed with AK-47 rifles, came on motorcycles, in Hilux vans and opened fire on mourners returning from Gatamarwa.

“They later attacked another Tsiha community near Shikarkir and killed three people and abducted a young lady. They burnt houses after looting their foodstuffs,” he said.

Recently, attacks have increased in Borno State, grounding the electricity supplies in Borno and Yobe after the insurgents destroyed six 33KVA towers that connected the two states.

Daily Trust

Apparent Israeli strike kills senior Hamas figure in Beirut and raises fears conflict could expand

An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hamas’ No. 2 political leader Tuesday, marking a potentially significant escalation of Israel’s war against the militant group and heightening the risk of a wider Middle East conflict.

Saleh Arouri, who was the most senior Hamas figure killed since the war with Israel began, was also a founder of the group’s military wing. His death could provoke major retaliation by Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia.

The strike hit an apartment in a building in a Shiite district of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began nearly three months ago. But so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting. A significant response now could send the conflict spiraling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strike was carried out by an Israeli drone, and Israeli officials declined to comment. Speaking to reporters, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly mention Arouri’s death but said, “We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas.”

“We are on high readiness for any scenario,” he added.

The killing comes ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even as the United States has tried to prevent a spread of the conflict, repeatedly warning Hezbollah — and its regional supporter, Iran — not to escalate the violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the assault in Gaza until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza are freed, which he has said could take several more months. At the same time, Israeli officials have increasingly warned in recent days of stepped-up action against Hezbollah unless its cross-border fire stops.

BEIRUT STRIKE

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to kill Hamas leaders wherever they are. The group’s Oct. 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage.

Israel claims to have killed a number of mid-level Hamas leaders in Gaza, but this would be the first time it has reached into another country to target the group’s top leaders, many of whom live in exile around the region.

Arouri was the deputy of Hamas’ supreme political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and headed the group’s presence in the West Bank. He was also a key liaison with Hezbollah.

Tuesday’s blast shook a residential building in the Beirut suburb of Musharafieh, killing four people, according to the Lebanese news agency. Hamas confirmed that Arouri was killed along with six other members of the group, including two military commanders.

Hamas’ leader, Haniyeh Ismail, said the movement was “more powerful and determined” following the attack. “They left behind them strong men who will carry the banner after them,” he said of those killed.

Hezbollah called the strike “a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance.”

“We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment,” it said.

Since the Gaza conflict began, Lebanese have feared their country could be pulled into a full-fledged war. Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006, when Israeli bombardment wreaked heavy destruction in southern Lebanon.

GAZA COMBAT CONTINUES

Israel’s air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 22,100 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The campaign has driven some 85% of Gaza’s population from their homes, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into overcrowded shelters or teeming tent camps in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed. Israel’s siege of the territory has left a quarter of Gaza residents facing starvation, according to the United Nations.

Israel announced Monday that it would withdraw five brigades, or several thousand troops, from Gaza in the coming weeks. Still, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said it would be a mistake to think that Israel is planning on halting the war.

“The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect,” he said Tuesday. “Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East.”

Israel has said it’s close to achieving operational control over most of northern Gaza, where ground troops have been battling militants for over two months. But Gallant said several thousand Hamas fighters are believed still to be in the north, and residents reported clashes in several parts of Gaza City, as well as in the nearby urban Jabaliya refugee camp.

Fierce fighting has continued in other parts of the Palestinian territory, especially the south, where many of Hamas’ forces remain intact and where most of Gaza’s population has fled.

Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling in the southern city of Khan Younis and farming areas to the east. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israel bombed its headquarters in the city, killing five people. At least 14,000 displaced people are sheltering in the building, it said.

Fighting was also underway in and around the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The army issued evacuation orders to people living in parts of nearby Nuseirat camp. A strike Tuesday leveled a building in Nuseirat, killing at least eight people, according to officials at the nearby hospital. Associated Press footage showed people pulling several children out of the wreckage.

GENOCIDE CASE

In other developments, officials said Israel will defend itself before the United Nation’s top court against charges that it has engaged in genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The announcement set the stage for what is likely to be a landmark case in international law.

South Africa launched the case Friday at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, saying the Israeli military campaign targeting Hamas has resulted in enough death, destruction and humanitarian crisis in Gaza to meet the threshold of genocide under international law. South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.

Israel rarely cooperates in international court cases against it, dismissing the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased. Its decision to respond to the charge signals that the government is concerned about potential damage to its reputation.

The genocide charge strikes at the heart of Israel’s national identity. The country sees itself as a bulwark of security for Jews after the Holocaust killed 6 million Jews, and world support for Israel’s creation in Palestine in 1948 was deeply rooted in outrage over Nazi atrocities.

The convention against genocide was drawn up by world powers the same year in hopes of preventing similar atrocities.

Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office, accused South Africa of “giving political and legal cover” to Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack triggered Israel’s campaign.

“The state of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at the Hague to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” he said.

Many South Africans, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have compared Israel’s policies regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation. Israel rejects such comparisons.

AP