Israel attempted to play down South Africa's genocide case at U.N.'s top court on Friday, labeling it "profoundly distorted" and "malevolent."

South Africa has launched an emergency case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing that Israel stands in breach of the U.N. Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.

Pretoria wants judges to force Israel to "immediately" stop the war on Gaza launched after the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion that killed 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

At least 23,700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Tal Becker, a top lawyer representing Israel, said South Africa had "regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted factual and legal picture."

Using videos and pictures, Becker painted a graphic image of the Oct. 7 attacks for the robed judges in the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits.

Hamas militants "tortured children in front of parents, parents in front of children, burned people ... systematically raped and mutilated," he said.

He claimed that Israel's response was in self-defense and not aimed at the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.

"Israel is in a war of defense against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people," said Becker.

"In these circumstances, there can hardly be a charge more false and more malevolent than the allegation against Israel of genocide."

Both Israel and its ally the United States have dismissed the case as groundless and vowed a robust defense.

"The State of Israel is accused of genocide at a time when it is fighting genocide," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the run-up to the hearings.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the South African case was "unfounded".

The ICJ will likely rule within a matter of weeks on South Africa's request. Its rulings are final and legally binding but it has little power to enforce them.