Israel’s ‘genocidal activities’: South Africa urges more countries to stand up

PRETORIA: More countries must recognise a Palestinian state and stand up to Israel to stop its “genocidal activities”, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told AFP in an interview Tuesday.

Pretoria has been a leading critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, bringing a case before the UN’s top court in December 2023 arguing that its war in the Palestinian territory amounted to genocide. As some of Israel’s allies “are now also saying, no, this can’t continue, it means that it is bringing us closer and closer to the Israel regime (stopping) the genocidal activities”, Lamola said. South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice argues that the war in Gaza, which began with the militant group Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention. Israel has strongly denied that accusation.

Several nations have added their weight to the proceedings, including Spain, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Libya. The leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada have meanwhile said they plan to recognise a Palestinian state in September, and urged other nations to do so.

“We call for more countries to continue to recognise Palestine,” Lamola told AFP. “This will put the pressure so that we can end up with a ceasefire.” After 22 months of combat sparked by the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that killed 1,219 people and saw hundreds kidnapped, the Israeli army has devastated large parts of the Palestinian territory.