Israel accuses South Africa of acting as a ‘legal arm’ of Hamas over Gaza ICJ case

Follow the latest news on the war in Gaza live

He singles out Pretoria for “distorting reality” and presenting “biased and false” claims coming from the Palestinian militia

May 16. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israel has accused South Africa of acting as the “legal arm” of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) after a hearing was held this Thursday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after Pretoria requested new precautionary measures due to the situation in Rafah. , in the south of the Gaza Strip.

“South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of the terrorist organization Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel’s right and moral duty to protect its citizens from its ongoing attacks and release the 132 hostages it still holds in the Gaza Strip, including Rafah,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein in a statement on the social network X.

Likewise, it has singled out Pretoria for “distorting reality” and presenting “biased and false” statements based “blindly on unreliable sources” from the Palestinian militia, so this “constitutes an abuse of the Genocide Convention.” “and an abuse of the court itself.

“Israel acts in accordance with international law and its humanitarian obligations, and the operations of the Israeli Armed Forces against Hamas in the Rafah area, and in general, are carried out by implementing measures to minimize damage to civilians and civilian facilities. , along with the continued transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” he concluded.

Lawyer Vaughan Lowe, who represents South Africa in the case opened against Israel before the ICJ for risk of genocide in Gaza, stated this Thursday that the Israeli Army’s offensive on the city of Rafah is the “final phase” that it will carry out. Israel to wipe the Palestinian population off the map.

In January, the court ordered Israel to “take all possible measures” to prevent a genocide in Gaza and to “urgently” ensure that the Palestinian population received the necessary aid. Two months later, it issued new provisional measures due to the humanitarian crisis situation caused by the offensive in Rafá.

South Africa maintains that previous interim measures calling on Israel to do everything possible to prevent genocide from occurring in Gaza and accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid “are not capable of fully addressing the changed circumstances and new developments.” “.