The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has received a case from South Africa accusing Israel of “genocidal” acts in Gaza and requesting an urgent ruling that Tel Aviv violated its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention by acting against the Palestinian organization Hamas. According to South Africa, Israel has been working specifically to exterminate Palestinians in Gaza who belong to the larger national, racial, and ethnic group of Palestinians. Israel has categorically denied these accusations, with a spokesman for the foreign ministry characterizing the claim as a “blood libel” propagated by South Africa.
South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people from additional grave and irreversible harm. State-to-state disputes are settled before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), popularly referred to as the World Court. Even though the court’s rulings are final, there is no way for them to be implemented.
Following a Hamas attack, South Africa denounced Israeli aggression in Gaza earlier in October. Underlining the historical similarities between Apartheid South Africa and the current state of affairs in occupied Palestine, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) expressed solidarity with the Palestinians. According to the ANC, the illegal Israeli occupation is directly responsible for the deteriorating security situation.
Due to Israel’s longstanding support of the Palestinian cause and the comparisons made between it and South Africa’s historic struggle against apartheid, the country is opposed to Israel. The repressive apartheid state and Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank are comparable, according to the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Due to historical ties that stretch back decades, South Africa has continuously supported the Palestinian quest for statehood, with Palestine having aided South Africa in its struggle against apartheid. The nation’s strong stance on this issue is demonstrated by its recall of Israeli diplomats and its demand for an International Criminal Court investigation into the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Significant rifts have emerged between South Africa’s Jewish organizations and opposition politicians over the country’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has expressed disapproval of the government’s stance on Palestine and its choice to remove its diplomats from Israel. The party stands apart from the governing African National Congress (ANC) in order to emphasize the variety of viewpoints in South African politics.
Furthermore, the Jewish community in South Africa, which is predominately pro-Israel, has a special historical bond with the Apartheid administration that emerged after World War II. Divergent perspectives exist throughout the nation as a result of this historical background, illustrating how complex and nuanced people’s perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are.