The head of South African diplomacy on Tuesday March 19 accused Israel of creating a precedent by ignoring the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), denouncing a situation of “generalized famine” in the Gaza Strip. Seized by South Africa, the ICJ called on Israel in January to prevent any possible act of “genocide” in Gaza in the conflict against Palestinian Hamas, asking it to allow the provision of “humanitarian aid which the Palestinians have an urgent need.” Israel has deemed the accusations of genocide “scandalous”.
Visiting Washington, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said Israel was creating dangerous jurisprudence by ignoring the ICJ order. “The interim measures have been completely ignored by Israel,” the minister said. “We are currently witnessing mass starvation (…) before our own eyes,” she added. Humanity must look itself in the face with horror and dismay and be concerned about the example we are setting. »
Other countries might think that “there is permission – I can do whatever I want and nothing will stop me,” according to her. “The ICJ was not respected. And the day an African disrespects him, I hope we don’t go to that leader and say: “Look, you’ve transgressed the limits. Because you are African, we expect you to obey,’” she insisted.
The orders of the court, which decides disputes between countries, are legally binding and final, but it has no means of enforcing them. In March, Pretoria asked the ICJ to impose “provisional measures” to end the “widespread famine” resulting from the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
In Gaza, “a catastrophic hunger situation”
More than 1.1 million Gazans, about half the population, face “a catastrophic hunger situation,” bordering on famine, according to the United Nations (UN). The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally compiled in from official Israeli sources. According to the Hamas health ministry, the Israeli offensive launched in retaliation left 31,819 dead, the majority civilians.
The head of South African diplomacy also discussed the war in Ukraine during her visit to Washington, saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would visit South Africa in the coming months. In 2023, the American ambassador in Pretoria accused South Africa of allowing a Russian ship to dock for military supplies, despite its declared neutrality in the conflict with Ukraine, an allegation later denied. “We always wanted to be in a situation where we would be able to be facilitators” between Ukraine and Russia, she added.
While the United States wants to maintain cooperation with South Africa, American parliamentarians have called for a reassessment of the relationship between the two countries. Ms Pandora said parliamentarians had failed to consult South Africa and that democracies must accept differences of opinion: “Seeking to punish South Africa because of differences in particular policy areas is the answer. most unhappy ever. »
