Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in the country’s genocide case against Israel as hopeful and a victory for justice, human rights and international law.
Despite not ordering a complete ceasefire in Gaza, the court ordered Israel to prevent further loss of life and to ensure that humanitarian aid reached thousands of displaced and affected Palestinians.
Ramaphosa said when it came to understanding and emphasising with endurance against dispossession, state-sponsored violence and apartheid, the country could never be a passive bystander to similar crimes being perpetrated against other people.
The president thanked South Africa’s legal team for launching its first case against another country in the top UN court and appealed to Israel to abide by the measures imposed on it in order to prevent genocide in the occupied territory.
“We have called Israel’s acts on Gaza genocidal acts, acts for which Israel should and must be held accountable,” the president said.
Ramaphosa said Israel’s actions against Palestinians were disproportionate in response to the 7 October attack by Hamas and called for more considered efforts towards a ceasefire and negotiations leading to a permanent two-state solution.
He said South Africa will not waiver in its support for the Palestinian people and their quest for self-determination because South Africa’s own painful history obliged it to do no less.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the ruling party would always stand against the oppressed, while International Relations Deputy Minister Alvin Botes said that one of the foreign policy priorities of the government spoke about global solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, commenting during the ANC’s NEC meeting in Boksburg, said that the court’s ruling had ensured a more effective end to what he termed as Israeli exceptionalism.
“We believe it’s a victory for international law, it’s a victory for the children in Gaza and in Palestine in general. It also brought an end to Israeli exceptionalism, that they cannot be held accountable within the rules of multilateral institutions within the UN,” Lamola said.
Meanwhile Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country’s commitment to international law was unwavering, but equally unwavering was their sacred commitment to continue to defend their country and people.
Prime minister Netanyahu said that the attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right was blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected.
The Prime minister said that charge of genocide leveled against Israel was false and outrageous and called Hamas, a “genocidal terror organization”, against whom Israel had an inherent right to defend itself.
Netanyahu said that the war was against Hamas terrorists, not Palestinian civilians, and that Israel would continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance, and do their utmost to keep civilians out of harm’s way, even as Hamas uses civilians as human shields.
A reporting process is expected back before the court in a month’s time on whether or not the state of Israel has complied with the orders of the court.
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