South Africa accuses Israel at World Court of genocidal acts in Gaza

The Star

South Africa accused Israel on Thursday (Jan 11) of subjecting Palestinians to genocidal acts at the opening of hearings at the top U.N. court on a case brought against the devastating Israeli military campaign in Gaza.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 You have the floor, madam.

00:02 South Africa contends that Israel has transgressed Article 2 of the Convention

00:18 by committing actions that fall within the definition of genocide.

00:24 The actions show a systematic pattern of conduct from which genocide can be inferred.

00:32 The suffering of the Palestinian people, physical and mental, is undeniable.

00:40 Turning to the third genocidal act under Article 2c,

00:47 Israel has deliberately imposed conditions on Gaza that cannot sustain life

00:52 and are calculated to bring about its physical destruction.

00:56 Every day there is mounting irreparable loss of life, property, dignity and humanity for the Palestinian people.

01:07 Our news feeds show graphic images of suffering that has become unbearable to watch.

01:15 Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.

01:20 Without an indication of provisional measures, the atrocities will continue,

01:25 with the Israeli Defence Force indicating that it intends pursuing this course of action for at least a year.

01:31 Members of the Court, South Africa is not alone in drawing attention to Israel's genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians in Gaza.

01:45 Fifteen United Nations Special Rapporteurs and 21 members of the United Nations Working Groups

01:54 have warned that what is happening in Gaza reflects a genocide in the making

02:02 and an overt intent to destroy the Palestinian people and our occupation.

02:11 Israel has a genocidal intent against the Palestinians in Gaza.

02:18 That is evident from the way in which Israel's military attack is being conducted.

02:26 Israel's special genocidal intent is rooted in the belief that in fact the enemy

02:33 is not just the military wing of Hamas, or indeed Hamas generally,

02:40 but is embedded in the fabric of Palestinian life in Gaza.

02:44 To die a slow death because of starvation and dehydration,

02:50 or to die quickly because of a bomb attack or snipers, but to die nevertheless.

02:58 In fact, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that Israel must find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death.

03:09 It is no answer to say that neither are in command of the army.

03:14 They are ministers in the Israeli government.

03:17 They vote in the Knesset and are in a position to shape state policy.

03:24 The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest levels of state.

03:30 South Africa unequivocally condemned the targeting of civilians by Hamas

03:36 and other Palestinian armed groups and the taking of hostages on the 7th of October 2023,

03:44 and has again expressly recorded this condemnation,

03:48 mostly recently in its non-verbal, to Israel on the 21st of December 2023.

03:56 That said, no armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious,

04:03 even an attack involving atrocity crimes, can provide any justification for or defend two breaches to the Convention,

04:14 whether as a matter of law or morality.

04:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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