SA remains hopeful, says Pandor ahead of ICJ ruling
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor says South Africa hopes the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule “in favour of justice”.
Pandor and the South African delegation are in The Hauge on Friday to hear the ICJ's provisional judgment on Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
South Africa lodged an application with the ICJ last month, arguing that Israel was violating the UN Convention on Genocide and seeking urgent measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza.
At a two-day hearing this month, South Africa asked that the ICJ grant interim injunctions, including that Israel immediately cease its military operations in Gaza.
“South Africa is hopeful. We have always approached this case with a positive spirit,” Pandor said.
“But our core purpose was to highlight the plight of the innocent in Palestine and also alert the International community to the great harm that is being done to the people of Palestine and also draw attention to the lack of justice and freedom, over many, many decades, much of which has been ignored by the International community.”
South Africa formally accused Israel of genocide.
One of the members of the South African legal team, Adila Hassim, said Israel's bombing campaign is aimed at the "destruction of Palestinian life" and had pushed Palestinians "to the brink of famine".
Israel's immediate response was to accuse South Africa of being a legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation.
According to International law experts, a ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza will be for a second stage of the procedure and will likely take years.
The war started on October 7 when Hamas staged an unprecedented attack on Israel that left about 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's relentless military campaign on Gaza since has left at least 25,900 dead, about 70 per cent of them women, children and adolescents, according to the Hamas government's health ministry.
South Africa has asked the ICJ to impose nine orders on Israel, including to suspend military activity immediately and to enable more humanitarian access.
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