South African President Cyril Ramaphosa broke into celebration on Friday (Jan 26) along with his party members as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled against Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas.
He was watching the World Court ruling live on a big screen.
South Africa’s foreign ministry hailed the ruling by the UN’s top court and called it a “decisive victory” for the international rule of law.
“Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people,” the foreign ministry said.
The International Court of Justice ruled in favour of South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its military operations in Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and do more to help civilians, in its war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
However, the court has not yet ruled on whether genocide occurred in Gaza, which was the very core of the case brought up by South Africa.
Israel must prevent actions violating Genocide Convention: ICJ
In its ruling, the ICJ said that it has taken into account the Israeli defence minister’s comments regarding ‘human animals’ in Gaza. The court ruled that some of the acts and omissions committed by Israel are under the Genocide Convention’s provisions. ICJ said that no evidence of genocide in Gaza must be destroyed.
The International Court of Justice has further ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide and any kind of actions which fall under the scope of the Genocide Convention.
A case was filed by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December, in which they had alleged that the devastating offensive against Hamas, in which 25,700 people were killed, amounted to state-led genocide and had breached the UN’s genocide convention, which was signed in 1948 in response to the Holocaust.
South Africa has appealed to the ICJ to impose nine orders on Israel which include immediate suspension of military activity and provide more access to humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza.
(With inputs from agencies)
