By Anthony Deutsch, Toby Sterling and Stephanie van den Berg THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Israel on Friday rejected as false and “grossly distorted” accusations brought by South Africa at the U.N.’s top court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population. It called on judges to dismiss South Africa’s request to halt its offensive, saying to do so would leave it defenceless. South Africa, which filed the lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December, asked judges in The Hague on Thursday to impose emergency measures ordering Is…