Johnathan Paoli
THE Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has warned that if Israel does not cease its ongoing offensive in Gaza, it would have no choice but to further explore legal action at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This follows the recent attacks on the Palestinian city of Rafah, in which the Israeli military announced early on Monday morning that two Israeli hostages had been rescued in a joint military, Shin Bet and police operation in Rafah after nearly 130 days in captivity.
The Palestinian health ministry, however, said that 52 Palestinians including children were killed in heavy overnight air strikes.
DIRCO’s Director-General Zane Dangor said that just weeks after the ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, Tel Aviv continues to defy the ruling, which also requires it to allow humanitarian aid into the blockaded territory.
“This is exactly why we went to the ICJ to stop the killing. We saw this as an unfolding genocide and we thought we needed to use these institutions to prevent further killing. The safe areas that Palestinians are going to go to is the next area for mass destruction,” Dangor said.
The DG said that despite the interim ruling, Tel Aviv had so far taken no steps to comply, and the department was hoping on the security council to intervene, failing which they would have no choice but to consider asking for a provisional order from the ICJ, pending advice from their legal team.
“We do see a situation where this idea of forced migration through creating unbearable living conditions is going to continue and it may spread from Gaza into the West Bank,” Dangor said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking at the Football for Humanity game between the Palestine national football team and the South African XI in Athlone on Sunday, said that the country’s position in relation to the conflict, echoed the footsteps of liberation hero and former president Nelson Mandela.
“We too are not entirely free until the Palestinians are free. We will stand by them, we will struggle with them, that is why we went to the International Court of Justice,” Ramaphosa said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in attendance, expressed gratitude to the South African government for the support and promised continued support and loyalty to both Mandela’s dream as well as the ANC.
At least 28,176 people have been killed, and 67,784 injured in Gaza since the war began, with up to 85% of the 2.3 million people in the area, having already been displaced from their homes and now being crammed into an ever smaller area near the border, a displacement which has added to the humanitarian crisis in the region.
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