Israel is sending top legal minds, including a Holocaust survivor, to The Hague this week to counter allegations it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“Israel cannot run away from an accusation that is so serious,” said Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel’s foreign ministry and former Israeli ambassador to South Africa.

Aharon Barak, a former Israeli Supreme Court chief justice, and Malcolm Shaw, a British barrister with international law experience, will join the International Court of Justice’s 15-member panel. Israel hopes their expertise will help refute the South African claim that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.