South African representative Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said at a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that "Israel's leaders are inciting genocide. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that 'no power in the world will stop us,' and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel would 'dismantle neighborhood after neighborhood.'" According to Ngcukaitobi, "Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Nissim Vatori said: 'We should invade Gaza yesterday, there are no uninvolved parties. We need to go in and kill, and kill and kill." In addition, he noted the words of the Chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, who said about the operation at Shifa Hospital: "A hospital is not a safe place."


