South Africa says all states must stop providing weapons and funding to the Israel occupation

All states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions in Gaza after the World Court made clear those actions could be genocidal, South Africa’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent its troops from committing genocide and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa.

According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor also said she had met the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week to discuss a joint referral South Africa made in November with other countries about the situation in the Palestinian territories.

“The International Court’s decision makes it clear that a genocide is possible to occur against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and this necessarily imposes an obligation on all countries to stop financing and facilitating Israeli military actions, ” Pandor said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the ICJ ruling as a step towards justice.

Hamda Mustafa