OIC welcomes South Africa’s filing of genocide case against Israel at ICJ
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed South Africa’s decision to file a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after nearly three months of Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Gaza.
The OIC in a statement on Saturday called on the ICJ to respond swiftly and take urgent measures to put an end to the genocide committed by Israel in the besieged Palestinian territory, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
“The OIC stressed that Israel, the occupying power, is committing genocide by its indiscriminate targeting of [the] civilian population, killing and injuring tens of thousands of Palestinians, forcibly displacing them, preventing them from obtaining basic needs and humanitarian aid and destroying buildings, and health, educational and religious institutions,” the statement read.
South Africa filed a lawsuit on Friday that says Israel’s actions are “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
The application said Israeli attacks breach the UN’s Genocide Convention, urging the ICJ to “order Israel to cease killing and causing serious mental and bodily harm to Palestinian people in Gaza.”
It further said that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
“We want to see an end to the conflict through peaceful means,” Lindiwe Zulu, South Africa’s Minister of Social Development, told Al Jazeera about why Pretoria has filed the lawsuit.
“We believe that this is the right time – for us both as the African National Congress and our government – to step up to the next level in finding a solution,” she added.
Moreover, the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement praised South Africa’s action and described it as “a significant step to punish the leaders of the Zionist entity and present-day criminals, who have committed the most heinous murders in modern history.”
Hamas called upon the entire world to adopt a similar measure against the Israeli regime both at national and international courts of law.
“The regime threatens international peace and security, and must not be allowed to escape punishment for the brutal crimes it has perpetrated against children and defenseless civilians in Gaza,” it added.
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