National Assembly vote to suspend Israeli ties ‘theoretic exercise’, says expert
Professor of International Law at the University of Law, Hennie Strydom, says the National Assembly’s decision to suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel and close its embassy in Pretoria is a theoretical exercise.
The motion was tabled by EFF leader Julius Malema last week as a response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, during which both sides have been accused of committing human rights violations.
The war started after Hamas, on October 7 launched the worst attack in Israel's history that left around 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli government.
Israel launched a major bombing campaign and then a ground offensive in Gaza, which, according to the Hamas government, has killed 14,100 people, thousands of them children.
“I think this is a theoretical exercise. It will not change the issue on the ground in Gaza,” said Strydom.
“I think the relations will be normalised again once the conflict comes to an end. That was the indication given from the start that this is a temporary measure. So I don’t think it will be permanent or have permanent effect.”
Israel and Hamas said Wednesday they had agreed on a four-day truce in the Gaza war during which the Palestinian militants would free at least 50 of the hostages taken in their deadly October 7 attack.
In turn, Israel would release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow more humanitarian aid into the coastal territory after more than six weeks of bombardment, heavy fighting and a crippling siege.
The hostages to be freed are women and children, and the Palestinian prisoners are women and detainees aged 18 and younger.
According to the agreement, for every 10 additional hostages released, there would be an extra day of truce.
Strydom said the success of the deal would depend on both Israel and Hamas keeping their end of the bargain.
“We hope the truce will hold, but that is for the parties to decide on that. Past experiences shown by many other conflicts of the world that truces are not honoured sometimes by either of the parties. It may hold, or it may not hold, so we will have to wait and see how this is going to happen.”
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to agree to a ceasefire was due to political pressure to ensure the return of the hostages.
“It was certainly because of pressure from inside his own country because the families of those captives they need to have their family members back. The other reason is that he is facing more pressure internationally to come up with sort of a solution to the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza, which is very serious, and this is one way of bringing some kind of relief.”
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