'Israel's' Defiance of ICJ Sets Bad Precedent: South Africa

By Al Mayadeen English

20 Mar 2024 00:54

Naledi Pandor accuses the Israeli occupation of "entirely" ignoring the provisional measures set by the court.

South Africa's top ambassador accused the Israeli occupation of creating a precedent for governments to defy the highest UN court on Tuesday, accusing it of enforcing a starvation campaign in Gaza.

In early March, South Africa returned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to request further provisional measures against "Israel", aimed at addressing the widespread starvation among Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip. 

A UN-endorsed report released on Monday warned that famine is expected to spread in the northern region of the Gaza Strip any time between now and May.

South Africa's Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, said on Tuesday that "Israel" has disobeyed the ICJ's January verdict that it should take steps to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Pandor told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace during a visit to the US capital, Washington, that the occupation has "entirely ignored" the provisional measures set by the court.

She expressed that "mass starvation" was being witnessed and pointed out that "as humanity, need to look at ourselves in horror and dismay and to be really worried that we have set an example."

Nations, she remarked, may feel empowered by what the Israeli occupation is doing and feel they have "license" to act as they wish without being stopped.

She cited that the ICJ has been "disrespected", and it was the very same things being preached "every day by the West" that was driving South Africa's post-apartheid democracy, as it navigated international institutions.

US Blinken says Hamas can be 'dealt with' without Rafah invasion

Last week, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed on Monday that "Israel has not been complying with the orders issued by the [ICJ] court."

He continued to assert that South Africa sees "it fit to approach the court on an urgent basis particularly with the view of addressing the challenges in the Rafah area," as he referred to the massacres being committed in the region by "Israel".

He concluded that further action must be taken as the "people in Gaza are now starving."

"Israel" was also ordered to prevent the killing of Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm, inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births - all within the context of the Genocide Convention.

South Africa was not the only one that asserted this fact.

UN special rapporteur on the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese, declared last month that "Israel" is violating orders issued by the ICJ to immediately protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities amounting to genocide.

Israeli aid restrictions to Gaza may be war crime: UN rights chief

Following a UN-backed report on Monday saying famine is likely to happen by May if the war on Gaza does not end, the United Nations human rights chief said on Tuesday that "Israel's" restrictions on humanitarian aid for Gaza may amount to a starvation tactic that could amount to a war crime. 

"The extent of Israel's continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime," proclaimed Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday.

Moreover, Turk stated that "Israel" has a responsibility to guarantee access to food and medical assistance for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

"There needs to be full restoration of essential services, including the supply of food, water, electricity, and fuel," Turk said, adding that this is a "human-made" crisis that can be brought to an end, urging states to pressure the Israeli occupation to facilitate aid delivery into the Strip.

In response to Turk's statement, the Israeli occupation's diplomatic mission in Geneva claimed "Israel is doing everything it can to flood Gaza with aid, including by land air, and sea. The U.N. must also step up."