Israel on Friday asked judges at the World Court to throw out the genocide case brought by South Africa, which had asked the U.N.'s top court to order an immediate end to Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

In its response to accusations made before the court by South Africa on Thursday, Israel said the demands to stop its offensive against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza lacked any merit.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg and Bart Meijer; Editing by Toby Chopra)