THE ruling Zanu PF party has hailed the South African government for its application to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague seeking the declaration of Israel’s military assault on Gaza an act of genocide.
Israel has called the allegations “baseless” and accused South Africa of “co-operating with a terrorist organisation”.
South Africa’s application is asking the ICC to take interim measures to immediately suspend Israel’s military operations in Gaza to prevent genocide.
The application, however, condemns Hamas’ killing of 1 200 Israelis and foreign citizens while taking hostage about 247 people in October last year.
Nonetheless, South Africa also argues that the Hamas attacks cannot justify the killing of more than 22 000 Palestinians, including more than 7 000 children.
Addressing a media briefing at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare on Friday, the party’s national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa hailed South Africa for “the bold decision of global conscience” to take the genocidal practices of Israel to the ICC.
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“Wasn't it a source of pride yesterday (Thursday) to see South African jurists presenting their case in solidarity with the Palestinians at the International Court of Justice?” said Mutsvangwa.
“They (Palestinians are in peril right now. The population of Gaza is in Peril because of the genocidal tendencies and practices of the Israeli government and of the Israeli army against the whole population.
The conflict has since divided the world with the United States and Britain siding with Israel, while many citizens of the two superpowers and Israel itself are protesting against Israel.
“No war has done so much ravage to a civilian population in a very confined area including collective punishment of a people, denying them water, denying them medicine, denying them care, denying them this and all because you are justifying saying that you are trying to attack a terrorist, “ Mutsvangwa said.
“No act justifies acceptance or condemnation of genocide or genocidal tendencies, no matter what the Israeli government do and the most unfortunate thing is that it is even the leadership which has been making some strange statements to justify why they should do that to a population.”
He hailed the South African government for the courage and taking up the issue to the ICC.
“You know the powerful Israeli lobby in America. South Africa has defied that. It has made Africa feel proud that we are part of humanity,” Mutsvangwa said.
“We need a ceasefire. We need unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people… We expect a two-State solution for Israel and the Palestine people.”
Mutsvangwa commended students in universities in the United States demonstrating against America supplying “weapons of indiscriminate slaughter of the Palestinian people by the Israeli army”.