South Africa calls on Israel to implement UN court's ruling of preventing genocide in Gaza

South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on Wednesday called on Israel to implement the ruling made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The decision by the ICJ affirms the importance of global governance institutions including organs of the United Nations (UN), and it remains vital for all member states to respect and implement the decisions of the court, Pandor said when briefing the media in Pretoria, the administrative capital of the country.

Third states must also act independently and immediately to prevent genocide by Israel and to ensure that they are not themselves in violation of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide, the minister said.

"This necessarily imposes an obligation on all states to cease funding and facilitating Israel's military actions, which are plausibly genocidal," said Pandor.

South Africa will continue to do everything within its power to end all acts of apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people and to walk with them towards the realization of their collective right to self-determination, she said.

The minister added that South Africa welcomes the support expressed by several countries and encourages states that are so inclined to approach the court to intervene in the proceedings so as to send a strong message to the international community that the situation in the Gaza Strip is indefensible.

South Africa filed an application to the ICJ for proceedings against Israel on December 29, 2023, and the ICJ ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide acts in the Gaza Strip on January 26, 2024.

(Cover: Palestinians inspect the rubble of Al-Urube school, which was targeted overnight by Israeli airstrikes in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, January 31, 2024. /CFP)