GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the International Court of Justice’s ruling on Friday imposing emergency measures against Israel over its genocide war in Gaza as a step towards justice and said he expected Israel to abide by it.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide, punish acts of incitement, and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation.
“We, as South Africans, will not be passive bystanders and watch the crimes that were visited upon us being perpetrated elsewhere,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation, referring to abuses committed against Black South Africans under the apartheid system.
“We expect Israel as a self-proclaimed democracy and a state that respects the rule of law to abide by the measures.”
Israel has called South Africa’s allegations of genocide false and “grossly distorted.”
Wearing the keffiyeh headscarf, Ramaphosa watched the ICJ proceedings with fellow members of the governing African National Congress (ANC) party at a gathering outside Johannesburg.
Party officials sang and danced after the ICJ’s verdict was read out.
At a separate gathering in Cape Town, party officials were similarly upbeat.
Earlier on Friday, the ICJ ruled that Israel must take measures to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip and improve the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.
In its ruling, the ICJ rejected Israel’s request to dismiss the lawsuit brought by South Africa and acknowledged the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide, affirming that the conditions are met to impose provisional measures on Israel.
